Deltona City Commissioners will hear a presentation Monday on how artificial intelligence could be used to help streamline the permitting process.

The presentation was requested by Commissioner Stephen Colwell during the City Commission’s regular meeting on Sept. 9.

The meeting is informational. No action will be taken Monday on whether Deltona will use AI for permitting.

Cities across the country are increasingly exploring AI tools that can review permit applications before they reach a human reviewer, flag missing information, and identify common errors that can lead to repeated correction cycles.

The goal is to catch problems earlier and potentially reduce the amount of time applicants spend waiting for corrections and resubmitting paperwork.

For builders and homeowners, even a relatively simple issue — such as a missing signature or required document — can mean an application has to be returned for corrections. That can add days or weeks to a project, depending on how long it takes for the application to be reviewed again.

Deltona’s presentation comes as other cities experiment with similar technology.

According to a recent Stateline report, cities including Honolulu, Louisville and Seattle have tested or implemented AI-assisted permitting tools designed to identify incomplete applications and reduce unnecessary review cycles.

In Louisville, an AI-assisted residential permitting system has been tested to flag missing or incomplete information before an application reaches a reviewer. Officials there said early testing showed the potential to reduce avoidable resubmissions by 50% or more.

Honolulu has also reported significant improvements after introducing AI pre-screening. Stateline reported that applications using the city’s CivCheck system averaged fewer correction cycles and that the average time applicants spent going through the permitting process fell from 73 days to 32.5 days.

But the technology has limitations.

AI can be useful for checking whether an application is complete and identifying straightforward issues. More complicated questions involving zoning, site-specific conditions, neighborhood impacts and other nuances can still require the judgment of an experienced human reviewer.

That distinction is a key part of how cities using the technology describe it: AI is intended to assist permitting staff, not replace them.

The Stateline report found that Honolulu officials specifically sought technology that would reduce the time planners spent reviewing incomplete applications, allowing staff to focus more of their time on complex reviews and working directly with developers.

Seattle’s pilot of the technology found it was 87% accurate when checking application completeness and 92% accurate on design-compliance checks. The city also reported reductions in intake-review time and correction cycles, although Seattle had not decided to fully adopt the technology as of its June 2026 report.

For Deltona, Monday’s presentation is an opportunity for commissioners to learn how the technology works and what role, if any, it could eventually play in the city’s permitting process.

There is no proposal before the commission Monday to approve an AI permitting system, and no action is expected.