Montgomery County commissioners in Pennsylvania told residents at a Thursday evening monthly meeting in New Hanover Township that the county has begun formal oversight of artificial intelligence use in local government. Vice Chair Neil Makhija said the county created an AI council about a year ago, approved its first guidelines at the previous meeting, and will disclose within the next 60 days a list of every county technology, service or software tool that uses AI.

Makhija raised the issue after what he described as a report in the last week that one AI model had hacked into another system. He said AI is advancing very rapidly and questioned whether alignment (keeping systems acting as intended) can be maintained. Makhija also said warnings from company CEOs about a 10 percent chance of extinction from what they are creating should be taken seriously.

Commissioner Tom DiBello pushed back on panic around the technology, citing almost 30 years in technology and more than twenty-five years designing and implementing large global technical software solutions in the tax and defense industries, according to his county biography. DiBello said major technology companies often warn about risks and then seek a role in writing policy that favors the top six or seven providers. He said AI is developing rapidly but remains “just a technology,” while adding that guidelines for corporations should be in place.

Makhija said Montgomery County’s guidelines require transparency about when AI is used, systems that are understandable, ethical and equitable, bias testing, privacy by design, data protections and human accountability for decisions and outcomes. He said vendors must also be accountable if their product does not work as intended, and said he thinks Montgomery County is the first county in Pennsylvania to clearly lay out such a resolution. DiBello said more activity on AI is coming, but the county is “not at panic state yet.”

Montgomery County commissioners in Pennsylvania told residents at a Thursday evening monthly meeting in New Hanover Township that the county has begun formal oversight of artificial intelligence use in local government. Vice Chair Neil Makhija said the county created an AI council about a year ago, approved its first guidelines at the previous meeting, and will disclose within the next 60 days a list of every county technology, service or software tool that uses AI.

Makhija raised the issue after what he described as a report in the last week that one AI model had hacked into another system. He said AI is advancing very rapidly and questioned whether alignment (keeping systems acting as intended) can be maintained. Makhija also said warnings from company CEOs about a 10 percent chance of extinction from what they are creating should be taken seriously.

Commissioner Tom DiBello pushed back on panic around the technology, citing almost 30 years in technology and more than twenty-five years designing and implementing large global technical software solutions in the tax and defense industries, according to his county biography. DiBello said major technology companies often warn about risks and then seek a role in writing policy that favors the top six or seven providers. He said AI is developing rapidly but remains “just a technology,” while adding that guidelines for corporations should be in place.

Makhija said Montgomery County’s guidelines require transparency about when AI is used, systems that are understandable, ethical and equitable, bias testing, privacy by design, data protections and human accountability for decisions and outcomes. He said vendors must also be accountable if their product does not work as intended, and said he thinks Montgomery County is the first county in Pennsylvania to clearly lay out such a resolution. DiBello said more activity on AI is coming, but the county is “not at panic state yet.”