Markham unveils Millie the butterfly as city mascot

Markham has unveiled Millie the butterfly, who is taking flight as Canada’s first municipal mascot and will serve as the city’s artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot.

“Millie is a vibrant symbol of our dedication to uniting the community and updating our Chatbot ensures our city remains a trailblazer in technological innovation, which is a cornerstone of our Digital Markham Strategy,” says Mayor Frank Scarpitti.

Chatbot 3.0 uses a combination of technologies, including Comm100, Open AI and IBM Watson assistant, to deliver precise answers by crawling data from the City’s official website, ensuring users receive the most up-to-date and relevant information. The service still allows users to speak to a virtual agent.

Millie, host of the annual award-winning Markham-Milliken Children’s Festival, is spreading their wings and taking on a greater role with the municipality. “With Millie as the face of our chatbot, users can enjoy a more engaging and personable interaction, making it easier to find information and connect to our contact centre agents if further assistance is needed,” the City reports. “Millie is available around the clock, providing assistance whenever you need it, day or night via the City of Markham website at markham.ca.”

Millie represents growth as a municipality and their multi-coloured wings represent the diversity of Markham’s residents. The City hopes Millie will help build connections with families and children as they build lifelong relationships with Markham.

The City already has a strong track record in digital innovation. In 2020, it was the first municipality in Canada to use the AI-enabled virtual agent IBM Watson Assistant for Citizens to offer 24-hour customer service for residents looking for reliable, consistent and accurate COVID-19 information.

In 2022, the City launched the Elections Markham Virtual Assistant, powered by Watson Assistant to make is easy for voters to find information about the 2022 Markham Municipal Election.

After supporting both the municipal election and receiving a total of more than 42,791 COVID-19 inquiries, the COVID-19 Virtual Assistant was retired in 2023, making way for the improved all-purpose Virtual Assistant 2.0. The service combines technologies from both Comm100 and IBM to provide a virtual assistant with live chat features.

Be on the lookout for Millie at City events and programs.

The City of Markham hosted a celebration event unveiling Canada’s first municipal mascot on Saturday, April 12. Photo courtesy of the City of Markham.