Deputy mayor warns against accuracy of former mayor’s AI-based website

NEWS  SEP 24, 2026 – 8:30 AM EDT Deputy mayor warns against accuracy of former mayor’s AI-based website Kim Smith advises residents to use primary documents from city and established media sources Kenny Bell, a former Iqaluit mayor, is pictured here addressing the city’s development appeal board to contest a zoning decision in 2024. He recently launched a website that deputy Mayor Kim Smith is critiquing for its reliance on artificial intelligence. (Photo by Daron Letts) By Daron Letts People in Iqaluit should not depend on a new website launched this month by former Iqaluit mayor Kenny Bell because it relies on artificial intelligence, says deputy Mayor Kim Smith. Smith cautioned against trusting Bell’s City Hall Record website during Tuesday’s council meeting and again in a social media post Wednesday morning. “Residents should be interested in council’s work, should ask questions, and should expect clear and accountable decision-making,” she wrote in the post, echoing her comments from the night before. “But, we should also be careful about presenting an AI-generated website as an authoritative record.” When asked for comment after Wednesday’s meeting, Smith told Nunatsiaq News, “AI isn’t the same as legitimate news and sources.” City Hall Record uses ChatGPT to pull information from public documents on the City of Iqaluit website and from livestream audio of city council and committee meetings. Bell agrees with Smith that AI is fallible and acknowledges some limitations, like the fact that audio from city meetings doesn’t include interpretation for things said in Inuktitut. “Sadly I can only review the English audio posted by the city,” he said over text message. He added that his website has a methodology page which includes a way to send in requests for correction. “Deputy Mayor Smith is right, AI can make mistakes — so do people,” he said. “What matters is if a claim holds up against the original documents and if errors are corrected.” Bell was elected to a four-year term as Iqaluit mayor in 2019, but resigned without finishing that term in 2022. He previously served one term as councillor. Smith addressed one of the investigations featured on Bell’s website, which looks into the water capacity of Lake Geraldine, the city’s reservoir. “To be clear, water is no longer holding us back from building housing,” Smith said. “With a successful pumping campaign from the Apex River, we have been able to maintain our current reservoir and…