AI literacy in local government: who needs to know what, from council to front desk
Short answer
Article 4 of the AI Act asks organisations to take measures that support the AI literacy of their staff; after the Digital Omnibus without a prescribed level, but still as a duty. For a public body one generic training is too little: a councillor needs to look at AI differently from a case worker in social services or a contact centre employee. Make a plan per role, short and practical, tied to the applications that role actually uses.
What the duty involves
Providers and deployers of AI systems take measures to ensure their staff are sufficiently AI-literate, taking into account their knowledge, the context and the people the AI is applied to. No certificate or number of hours is prescribed. You must be able to show what you did. See AI literacy for the general explanation and The EU AI Act in 2026.
A different story per role
| Role | What they need to know | Form |
|---|---|---|
| Council | Which questions to ask about AI proposals: purpose, data, fundamental rights, register | One council evening per term, plus a checklist |
| Executive and management | Responsibility, risk classes, what national policy asks | Half a day with the authority’s own applications as cases |
| Social services | Where high risk begins, what is allowed, how to contradict an outcome | One-hour team session, repeated for new applications |
| Contact centre and desk | What the assistant does and does not know, when to refer, transparency to residents | Practical training with real questions |
| Lawyers and DPO | AI Act, GDPR, information law and records together; DPIA and rights assessment | In-depth, external or through the association of municipalities |
| IT and security | Models, connections, permissions, logging, prompt injection | Technical training on the authority’s own environment |
| Everyone | What to enter and what not, how to recognise and report a wrong answer | Half an hour, mandatory, with the internal policy |
An approach that sticks
- Tie training to use. Whoever gets an assistant gets the training with it, when the application becomes available. See Rolling out an AI assistant.
- Use your own examples. A wrong answer about your own by-law teaches more than a general explanation of language models.
- Make reporting mistakes easy. One reporting point, and show what happens with reports.
- Record who followed what. That is your evidence for the AI Act duty, and it tells you who needs a top-up when a new application arrives.
- Repeat on change. A new model or a new automation is a moment for a short refresher.
How werqly fits in
An environment of your own makes training concrete: staff practise with the assistant they actually use, on their own department’s sources. werqly AI Control shows per role which models and sources are available, and the audit log shows where mistakes and corrections arise in practice; that is the best input for the next training round. See AI for local government.
Frequently asked questions
Questions on this topic
Is AI training mandatory for civil servants?
The AI Act asks organisations that deploy AI to take measures that support their staff’s AI literacy. No level or number of hours is prescribed, but you must be able to show what you did, matched to the role and the application.
Should the council be trained as well?
The duty is aimed at the organisation, but the council decides on AI proposals and scrutinises the executive. A council evening on the questions that belong with every AI proposal, purpose, data, fundamental rights and register, is a sensible investment.
What is the minimum for everyone?
What to enter and what not, how to recognise a wrong answer and where to report it, plus the internal AI policy. Half an hour, mandatory, and repeated as soon as a new application arrives.
How do we show we meet the duty?
Record per role which training was offered, who followed it and when, linked to the applications in your AI register. That overview is what a supervisor or the council wants to see.
Sources
- Artificialintelligenceact.eu — Article 4: AI literacy
- Government of the Netherlands — Government broadens position on generative AI (April 2025, Dutch)
This article is general information, not legal advice. Rules and guidance change; check the sources listed or ask your lawyer or DPO if in doubt.