Council member urges citywide AI governance after FOIA backlog concerns; committee adds policy to closing resolutions

At the Budget, Finance and Audit standing committee hearing March 23, Council member Angela Whitfield Callaway raised concerns about the citys fragmented use of artificial intelligence across departments and the potential for inconsistent safeguards. She cited FOIA volume as one reason the city is exploring AI tools and said the council should require a coordinated, standardized governance process that involves the law department and IT before departments deploy AI solutions.

Conrad Mallett confirmed the law department has an AI project in development and said the office would review what the State of Michigan is doing and use lessons learned. Calloway moved that the committee include a closing-resolution item requiring the law department and IT to collaborate on a uniform AI governance policy and safeguard plan. Pro Tem Coleman Young suggested broadening future conversations to include smart-city and Internet-of-Things issues, but Calloway and others preferred keeping the closing resolution narrowly focused on AI governance at this stage.

Members also discussed federal preemption concerns and potential legal limits on municipal AI regulation; the chair and counsel said they would consider federal law and training mandates before finalizing draft language. The committee agreed to add the AI-governance directive to closing resolutions with follow-up drafting to ensure compliance with state and federal constraints.