How we use AI on this site.

Three features on this site use AI:

• The assistant— the floating “Ask ShelbyKY” button. When you ask a question, the assistant generates a written answer with links to relevant places, stories, and pages from this website.
• Build with AI — a conversational trip-planning experience at /plan/with-aithat proposes stops in a side panel as you describe what you're looking for.
• Natural-language search— when you choose “Ask in plain English” from the search modal, your phrase is sent to the assistant rather than a keyword index.

Every other part of the site — partner listings, blog stories, the visitor guide, the map — runs without AI. Reading those pages does not send anything to a third party for processing.

When you interact with one of the AI features above, the following is sent to our AI provider:

• The text you type into the chat or planner.
• The previous turns of the same conversation, so the model can keep context.
• Context from this website — for example, partner descriptions, event listings, and story content — so the model can ground its answers in real ShelbyKY data instead of inventing information.

We do not send your name, email address, browsing history, location, or any other identifying information. The conversation is sent without an account or user identifier attached.

We currently route AI requests through one or more of the following providers. Their terms of service govern the handling of data once it reaches them.

We may add or change providers over time as the AI landscape evolves. When we do, this page will be updated, and the requirements below — no identifying data, no training on your conversation — will continue to apply.

We do not retain transcripts of your conversations with the assistant or the planner beyond what your own browser stores locally for your current session. There is no server-side log of who said what.

Our agreements with the AI providers above require that your inputs are not used to train their models. Where a provider offers a zero-retention API tier, we use it. Where a provider retains data temporarily for abuse prevention, that retention window is short (typically up to 30 days) and the data is not associated with you.

• Don't use the AI features. The site works completely without them — every page, partner profile, story, event, and the visitor guide are accessible directly.
• Use traditional search instead. The keyword-based search modal and the dedicated /search page never call an AI provider.
• Clear your local history.The assistant stores your current conversation in your browser's session storage. Closing the tab or clearing site data removes it.

AI-generated answers can be wrong. Specifically:

• Hours, prices, and event dates change. Always verify with the venue before you go.
• The assistant may occasionally suggest a place that has closed or changed format. Partner pages are the authoritative record.
• The assistant's knowledge of ShelbyKY is limited to what is published on this site. It will not invent partners that don't exist, but it can misremember a detail.
• If the assistant returns a response that seems wrong or contains information you didn't expect, please let us know.

Questions about how AI is used on this site, or requests to opt out specific information from the assistant's context, can be sent to:

ShelbyKY Tourism
316 Main Street, Shelbyville, KY 40065
(502) 633-6388
mason@visitshelbyky.com

See also our general privacy policy and accessibility statement.