At the end of last Monday’s City Council meeting, Councilmember Justin Jones called for a clear set of rules to handle artificial intelligence (AI) while protecting resident privacy.
Jones asked the city to create these guidelines at the council level and requested that city employees hold off on using autonomous AI agents until a formal policy is in place.
“Residents should be able to find out how the city uses AI and provide input,” Jones told Pasadena Now. “We need to balance innovation with guardrails, and I’d rather we write those rules in public now so we can establish helpful technology for city employees, residents, and businesses within a clear framework.”
An AI agent is a type of software that acts independently. It can follow steps, work with other software and complete complex jobs with very little direct oversight.
Unlike a standard chatbot that answers one question at a time, an AI agent runs in a continuous loop, continuously checking its progress, connecting to outside software systems and completing multi-step tasks.
Councilmembers Steve Madison and Tyron Hampton supported creating a citywide policy.
Madison pointed to recent warnings from tech executives and researchers who have urged caution regarding fast-moving autonomous systems. “I’m terrified about this,” Madison said during the meeting. “It feels like the beginning of a Sci-Fi movie. We need to get on this.”
Pasadena is one of many local governments trying to figure out how to handle automated software. Across the country, several municipalities are testing these tools while setting boundaries. Midland, Texas, uses an AI tool alongside its 311 portal to direct service calls, while Kyle, Texas, launched an automated system for customer service.
Other municipalities are testing AI software to speed up building and environmental permit reviews.
These local efforts fit into a bigger national conversation. Tech leaders and researchers across the country have urged software developers to slow down, run safety tests and focus on security.
Cities are focusing on practical safeguards, like requiring safety reviews before launching new software, ensuring a human verifies automated decisions and keeping personal public data out of commercial models.
During a December EDTECH update, city staff noted that Pasadena currently uses AI only in limited advisory roles and where human employees check the work.
Staff suggested creating an internal risk review team and updating standard vendor contracts as next steps.
The policy framework requested by Jones will likely go to a committee for initial public review before returning to the full City Council.
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