AI-POWERED ENGLISH COMMUNICATION TOOLS FOR STRENGTHENING CITIZEN - LOCAL GOVERNMENT ENGAGEMENT THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA

Povzetek

Local governments increasingly rely on social media to inform residents, solicit feedback, and deliver services. However, language barriers, information overload, inconsistent tone, and limited staff capacity reduce the effectiveness of these channels. This paper examines how AI-powered English communication tools — including conversational agents (chatbots), large language models (LLMs) with retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), automated translation and summarization, sentiment analysis, and plain-language rewriting systems — can strengthen citizen–local government engagement on social platforms. Drawing on recent studies and deployments, the paper synthesizes capabilities and limitations, proposes an integrated, human-in-the-loop implementation framework, and discusses ethical, accessibility, and governance safeguards necessary for responsible use. Practical recommendations are provided for municipal practitioners: prioritize transparency, adopt plain-language defaults, retain human oversight for sensitive topics, protect privacy, and measure outcomes with inclusive metrics. Properly deployed, AI tools can broaden participation, accelerate response, and make civic communication more intelligible — but only when paired with safeguards that preserve trust and equity.