{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,11]],"date-time":"2026-10-11T16:46:30Z","timestamp":1791737190607,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI)","issue":"1","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["AIES"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Local governments across the United States have quietly become frontline regulators of artificial intelligence (AI), advancing governance efforts that both fill gaps in federal oversight and contest dominant national and industry imaginaries. Drawing on 77 policies from 55 cities and counties, this study uses qualitative content analysis to analyze policy documents for their targeted AI domains and the values and priorities they articulate. Results identify three overarching counter\u2011imaginaries\u2014democratic oversight, rights\u2011oriented governance, and place-based alignment\u2014that structure how local governments define problems, justify intervention, and envision desirable AI\u2011enabled futures. These findings highlight local AI governance as a critical site of policy innovation and democratic negotiation, with implications for how federal frameworks, preemption debates, and industry practices might better account for situated harms, community priorities, and the plural values that shape AI\u2019s integration into public life.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1609\/aies.v9i1.43153","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,11]],"date-time":"2026-10-11T16:07:04Z","timestamp":1791734824000},"page":"435-446","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["AI Localism - Counter Imaginaries from City AI Governance"],"prefix":"10.1609","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"Bhavana","family":"Bheem","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Samuel","family":"Gerstein","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Karrie","family":"Karahalios","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Madelyn Rose","family":"Sanfilippo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"9382","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,11]]},"container-title":["Proceedings of the AAAI\/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/ojs.aaai.org\/index.php\/AIES\/article\/download\/43153\/50713","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/ojs.aaai.org\/index.php\/AIES\/article\/download\/43153\/50713","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,11]],"date-time":"2026-10-11T16:07:04Z","timestamp":1791734824000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/ojs.aaai.org\/index.php\/AIES\/article\/view\/43153"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,11]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,11]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1609\/aies.v9i1.43153","relation":{},"ISSN":["3065-8365"],"issn-type":[{"value":"3065-8365","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,11]]}}}