PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Philadelphia City Council committee held a first-of-its-kind hearing on Wednesday about how the city uses artificial intelligence and how it may use it in the future, but city officials offered few answers.
Councilmember Rue Landau, who chairs the Committee on Technology and Information Services, called for the hearing as the city’s use of AI has grown.
“We know there are ways that SEPTA is using AI to detect cars that are parked in bus lanes. The Streets Department is using it to see potholes and other obstructions in the street. But there’s other ways in which we know the city is using AI, and for that to come out in the public and to see what the plan is going forward,” she said.
However, she said she was disappointed at the lack of solid information that came out of Wednesday’s meeting. She hoped the hearing would help citizens understand how the city is protecting their privacy and safety as it implements AI, but she said we “didn’t get very clear answers to that.”
Parker administration officials said they intend to issue guidelines on the use of AI “in the coming weeks” and next year, and create a review committee, but Councilmember Mark Squilla grew impatient when they deferred questions about current AI use to those future plans.
“These things have to happen now. We can’t wait,” he stressed.
Kristin Bray, the mayor’s chief legal counsel, tried to assure the committee that there is no reason to be concerned about the administration’s use of AI.
“We are always aligning our actions with our values,” she said.
Councilmember Anthony Philips said that assurance may work for some city functions, but not for AI.
“This is a heavier change, such a big change — the public is probably going to want a lot more details about how this is working out,” he argued.
Those details were not forthcoming at the hearing.
Landau said transparency about the city’s current and planned uses is the best way to combat mistrust of the technology.
“There have been allegations of racial discrimination used in AI. There’s fear of cybersecurity and data privacy and sharing data,” she said. “The technology sector moves much faster than the public sector, and we have to make sure that Philadelphia has a plan going forward on how to optimize the ways in which we use it for all of the opportunities that are out there, but also safeguard against the misuses that can happen.”