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Harry Hoffman is an Associate Commissioner on the Sudbury Conservation Commission, and a member of the Sudbury Community Preservation Commission. That’s no small commitment to make to his community. But he has gone a step further, launching a Sudbury MA Civic Copilot using one of the most popular large language models (LLM) in the world, with some custom tuning for Sudbury. Sudbury Weekly connected with Hoffman to learn more about his ambitious, and compelling, project.
Can you describe for readers exactly what your Sudbury MA Civic Copilot is, and how people can access it?
The Sudbury MA Civic Copilot is an easy-to-use digital guide that helps residents make sense of local government. It answers plain-language questions about boards and committees, bylaws, zoning, Town Meeting, public hearings, conservation rules, and more all using information drawn directly from the Town of Sudbury’s official website and public documents.
Anyone can access it at this link:
https://chatgpt.com/g/g-69189868e95c8191840a81b3667b68fb-sudbury-ma-civic-copilot
You’ll need a free or paid ChatGPT account to use it, and you must be logged into your ChatGPT to access the app.
What was the specific ‘pain point’ or experience that inspired you to create the Civic Copilot, and how long did the development process take from concept to this initial launch?
The pain point was simple: local government is full of important information that’s often buried under layers of pages, PDFs, and terminology. Even people who are deeply involved; myself included, as an Associate Commissioner on the Conservation Commission, and a member of the Community Preservation Commission, spend a lot of time searching, cross-referencing, and translating official language into something understandable.
I built the Copilot because I kept hearing friends and neighbors say the same thing: “I want to get involved, but it’s overwhelming…”
Development went quickly once I decided to do it. From concept to first launch it took about a week of nights and early mornings. Most of the time went into gathering the right town documents, structuring the information, testing questions, and making sure it explains things in plain, accessible language.
The Copilot is built on the ChatGPT platform. Can you briefly explain to our readers how this technology is ‘fed’ the Sudbury-specific information? What are the primary public and official town sources you are pulling from, and how often is the Copilot updated with new information or sources?
The Copilot is built on ChatGPT, but all of the Sudbury-specific knowledge comes from documents I selected, formatted, and uploaded directly into it.
These include primary public sources such as:
- The Town of Sudbury official website
- Board and committee pages
- Town bylaws
- Planning, zoning, and conservation materials
- Town Meeting procedures
- Budget and finance documents
- Permitting guides
- Public works and public safety information
- Official FAQs and policies
The Copilot doesn’t “crawl” the internet. It only uses the sources that were manually added.
Right now, I’m updating it continuously whenever a resident suggests an improvement or when I see new materials posted by the town. If this evolves into a larger community project, the update cycle will become more structured.
Your recent social media post mentions that ‘Sudbury runs on engaged residents.’ How do you envision the Civic Copilot specifically changing the level or quality of civic engagement in town, particularly among residents who might find the official website or warrant articles intimidating?
Sudbury runs on residents who show up, volunteer, ask questions, and care about our shared spaces. I actually got involved with the town government because I needed to reach out to the Conservation Commission before doing work on my property. Lori Capone and the Commissioners are really wonderful people but it’s intimidating at the start as you research what needs to happen. The Civic Copilot lowers the barrier to entry by giving people a way to understand town issues without needing to be an expert. I think this is what keeps many folks from participating.
Some examples of how it helps:
- Explains warrant articles in straightforward language
- Breaks down board responsibilities so residents know who to contact
- Clarifies the permitting process so people don’t feel intimidated
- Helps new residents learn how the town works faster
- Reduces confusion and helps residents feel confident enough to participate
My hope is that it makes civic life feel less like a maze and more like an open door especially for people who want to get involved but feel overwhelmed by the website or the formality of Town Meeting materials.
As you mentioned in your post, one of the Copilot’s main functions is to ‘explain things in plain language.’ Can you provide an example of a question and response you found particularly helpful when Copilot?
Harry: Can you explain what the Consent Calendar is and why there is no discussion on the items?
Copilot (in summary response form):
What the Consent Calendar is:
Sudbury groups a set of routine, non-controversial warrant articles into one block called the Consent Calendar. These are items that come up every year and normally pass easily (like revolving fund limits or minor bylaw fixes).
Why there usually isn’t discussion:
There can be discussion — but only if a voter asks.
At Town Meeting:
- The Moderator presents the Consent Calendar.
- Any voter can request that an article be removed (“pulled”).
- Pulled items get full debate.
- Everything not pulled is voted on all at once.
Most items aren’t pulled because they’re routine, so they usually pass without debate.
Source & Confidence:
This is consistent with how Sudbury has structured recent Annual Town Meeting warrants (including 2025) and general Open Town Meeting practice.
If you want, I can also list the 2025 Consent Calendar articles.
You included a necessary disclaimer about 100% accuracy not being guaranteed. As the creator of this Copilot, but not the owner of the underlying AI model, how do you handle the responsibility of providing accurate civic information?
This is an important point. The AI model belongs to OpenAI, not me, so it’s not something I can fully control. What I can control is:
- Which documents are included
- How they’re summarized and structured
- Clear warnings about accuracy limits
- Ongoing review and updates
I treat the Copilot the same way you’d treat a reference librarian or a search tool: it’s there to help you find your way, but official decisions and interpretations always come from the town.
That’s why the tool repeatedly reminds people to double-check anything important and refer to the Town of Sudbury’s official pages.
You mentioned the possibility of developing this into a ‘full standalone website’ that doesn’t require a ChatGPT account. What steps would be necessary to achieve this, and how can interested residents or town officials assist in moving that vision forward?
A standalone version would remove the ChatGPT account requirement and let people use the Copilot on a regular website or mobile app. It’s a pretty big lift, on my part, to get to a stand-alone version so I’d really want to ensure it’s something valuable to the community before moving forward.
To get there, the next steps would be:
- Build a lightweight web application that hosts the Copilot’s interface
- Create a backend to store and manage town documents
- Set up an automated update system when town releases new information [this is key]
- Add a public feedback system so residents can request improvements
- Design a clean, accessible interface that feels familiar to anyone using the town website today
Residents and town officials can help in a few ways:
- Providing feedback on accuracy and usability
- Suggesting additional sources or clarifications
- Sharing the Copilot with neighbors to see what questions people have
- Connecting with town staff to ensure the information remains aligned with official guidance
- Potentially helping with funding or volunteer development work if we want a fully independent civic tool
If there’s sustained interest, I’d love to build it into a lasting community resource. In an ideal world local/state governments would build these for resident’s use but the technology is still pretty new.
To access the Sudbury MA Civic Copilot, log in to your free or paid ChatGPT account first, then click the link below: