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Santa Clara County officials want to get ahead of artificial intelligence, and are exploring how to implement guardrails as the growing technology sparks displacement fears among public servants.
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The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday, with Supervisor Susan Ellenberg absent, to move forward with a comprehensive study on how AI is used across its various department — including the public hospital system, which is California’s second largest.
County leaders will use that study to set guidelines for the technology’s use, including disclosing when AI is used in county operations, clearly defined prohibitions on using AI for budgetary or personnel decisions and measures to ensure AI is helping county workers — not replacing them. The report will come back to the board alongside a formal policy for approval at a later date.
District 5 Supervisor Margaret Abe-Koga, who is spearheading the effort with Board President Otto Lee, said she’s mainly concerned about AI replacing human public servants.
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“It’s already being used in parts of our organization, so what we need is a clear, thoughtful, people-centered, values-driven policy to guide that use,” Abe-Koga said before the vote.
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She added the county is in an incredibly tight budget cycle where every department is being asked to do more with less. She said AI — when used thoughtfully — can help reduce backlogs and repetitive administrative tasks to allow employees to focus on the parts of their jobs that require human judgement.
“AI should enhance our workforce, not replace it,” she said.
Abe-Koga also directed county staff to broaden the report’s scope beyond generative AI — which is used to create content such as images, text and video — to AI in general. After feedback from labor groups, Abe-Koga agreed that some AI still has social impacts even if it’s not generative.
Several labor leaders spoke at the meeting to share concerns from county workers.
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“We’ve already seen what happens when new technology is adopted without clear governance and workforce planning,” Carlos Fuentes, a county network engineer and union steward with SEIU 521, said. “With cloud adoptions – worlds became blurred, responsibilities were crossed and opportunities for county workers were lost. We cannot afford to repeat that with AI.”
But a chief concern is AI’s potential use in personnel decisions.
“Everything is knowable now,” Zeb Feldman, a union leader for County Employees Management Association, told San Jose Spotlight. “We’re excited about the referral discussing prohibited use cases, not wanting AI to be used to make firing or discipline decisions.”
Abe-Koga said she is having staff look into various AI tools.
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“There are tools to create employee training videos, for example,” she said. “There is a speech-to-text platform that synthesizes doctors’ notes. We’re also doing a Microsoft CoPilot program at select departments to see whether it is helpful to those staff. The goal is to expand it through all county departments, based on our experience with the select departments.”
As the county considers AI regulation, some of its local cities have already gotten started.
San Jose is integrating AI into local government at full speed, having launched the national GovAI Coalition to set standards for responsible use of AI in government, with hundreds of cities and public servants signing on.
Mayor Matt Mahan’s office uses ChatGPT to help write speeches and draft talking points. The city is already using AI-powered software to optimize public transit, translate public meetings, review official documents and catalogue street-level blight and safety problems such as potholes, graffiti, broken street lights and illegal dumping.
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Maria Noel Fernandez, executive director of local advocacy group Working Partnerships USA, said local governments such as Santa Clara County can be models for the state and nation when it comes to responsible AI use.
“Unions, community groups and our elected allies here in Silicon Valley are fighting for a vision where AI empowers workers and protects our values,” she told San Jose Spotlight.
Feldman said it’s crucial to protect county workers and the public from irresponsible AI usage. His union represents just more than 3,000 workers in Santa Clara County.
“We just need to understand the rules of the road so AI can be helpful — especially in our current budgetary crisis — rather than harmful,” Feldman said.
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County Executive James Williams said the county already has vetting processes to ensure artificial intelligence technology is used transparently, safely and securely.
“As these technologies evolve, County Administration continues to review and recommend policy updates to the Board of Supervisors to ensure generative A.I. use remains aligned with County principles,” Williams told San Jose Spotlight. “As a national leader in technology and innovation, the County is wellpositioned to set clear standards that safeguard our residents, employees, and community while responsibly leveraging generative A.I. to enhance critical service delivery.”
South Bay Labor Council Executive Officer Jean Cohen said the county should co-create and implement these policies with workers and address concerns that AI could be used for surveillance on the job site.
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“I don’t know that that’s been happening in a more formal, organized fashion,” Cohen told San Jose Spotlight. “There needs to be human oversight on AI tools and a human in the loop.”
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