Fulton County Commissioner Dana Barrett alleged Tuesday, Sept. 15, that four ordinances on the county board's Wednesday agenda were drafted by artificial intelligence.
Three of the four ordinances were sponsored by District 5 Commissioner Marvin Arrington Jr. Barrett said she ran the text through GPTZero, an AI-detection platform, and all three scored 100% AI-generated. A fourth ordinance scored 89%, Atlanta News First reported.
"I didn't need a detector to tell me that," Barrett told Atlanta News First. "I saw it with my own eyes. The formats were different. The word choices were different. These are not normal ways our resolutions are written."
The ordinances are scheduled for the board's Sept. 16 meeting at 10 a.m. at the Fulton County Government Center in Atlanta. Fulton County governs Johns Creek, so any ordinances the board passes apply to local residents.
Arrington, a practicing attorney, told Atlanta News First he used AI to help draft the ordinances but denied they were written entirely by AI. In a written statement, he called Barrett's accusation misleading.
"Commissioner Barrett used artificial intelligence to accuse others of using artificial intelligence. Imagine that. If that is not the pot calling the kettle black, I do not know what is," Arrington wrote.
The three Arrington items on the Sept. 16 agenda cover food security and community gardens, new rules limiting public comment to agenda-related topics, and changes to the county's ethics board structure. The agenda describes the ethics item as a move to "abolish" the current Ethics Board.
Arrington pushed back on that characterization, saying the proposal reforms how ethics complaints are reviewed. He said it grew partly from his own experience with a complaint held over him for about four years before a court ordered its dismissal.
AI-detection tools can produce conflicting results. When the same ordinances were run through ChatGPT, the response called them "likely a hybrid of AI-assisted drafting and human legal/policy editing." Arrington noted in his statement that GPTZero itself warns its results should not be treated as a final verdict.
Barrett said Fulton County has no restrictions on commissioners using AI to draft legislation.
She wants that to change.
Arrington said he plans to introduce a comprehensive AI governance policy for the county at the board's next meeting. The seven-member board currently has a vacant District 4 seat, leaving six commissioners to vote.
The Sept. 16 meeting is open to the public in person and via Zoom, with virtual comments due before the 10 a.m. start.
