Texas lawmakers are considering regulations to address the risks of artificial intelligence

A group of state lawmakers began wading through the complex world of artificial intelligence on Tuesday, offering an early look at how Texas might try to regulate the booming technology.

During a nearly four-hour hearing, the Texas Senate Business and Commerce Committee heard a wide range of concerns about the potential risks of artificial intelligence, including the spread of misinformation, biased decision-making and violations of consumer privacy. By the end of the hearing, at least some of the panel’s 11 members seemed convinced that the state should pass laws to regulate how and when private companies use artificial intelligence.

“If you really think about it, it’s a dystopian world we could be living in,” Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, said during the hearing. “I think our challenge is how do we go out there and put those safeguards in place?”

Artificial intelligence is a broad term that covers a wide range of technologies, including chatbots that use language processing to answer user questions, generative AI that creates unique content, and tools that automate decisions such as how much to charge someone for insurance housing or if a job the applicant should get an interview. Artificial intelligence can also be used to produce digital replicas of artists’ works.

Already, more than 100 of the state’s 145 agencies are using AI in some form, Amanda Crawford, chief information officer for the Texas Department of Information Resources, told lawmakers Tuesday. Crawford is a member of a new AI Council created this year by Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Speaker of the House Dade Phelan. The board is tasked with studying how state agencies use AI and evaluating whether the state needs an AI code of ethics. The Council is expected to publish its report by the end of the year.

Leaders of several government agencies have testified that artificial intelligence has helped them save significant time and money. Edward Serna, executive director of the Texas Workforce Commission, for example, said a chatbot the agency created in 2020 helped answer 23 million questions. Tina McLeod, information officer in the attorney general’s office, said their workers have saved at least an hour a week with an AI tool that helps analyze lengthy child support cases.

But in other cases, stakeholders testified, AI technology could be used in ways that hurt Texans.

Josh Abbott, a country singer, said he worries that AI could be used to reproduce his voice and generate new songs to be shared on Spotify.

“Fake AIs don’t care if you’re famous,” Abbott said. “AI Fraud and Deep Fakes Affect Everyone.”

Grace Gedye, a policy analyst for Consumer Reports, recounted how private companies have already used biased AI models to make critical housing and employment decisions that harm consumers. She said lawmakers could force companies that rely on artificial intelligence to make decisions to audit that technology and disclose to consumers how they are rated.

Gedye mentioned New York City, which has enacted a law requiring employers that use automated hiring tools to audit those tools. Few employers have actually performed the audit, Gedye said.

In crafting the legislation, the state will have to tread carefully and make sure it doesn’t inadvertently write laws that prohibit positive uses of artificial intelligence while trying to limit the damage, said Renzo Soto, executive director of TechNet, which represents the technology. general managers.

“You almost have to look at industry by industry,” Soto said.

Texas already passed a law in 2019 that makes it a crime to make a misleading video with the intent to influence an election. Last year, lawmakers passed another law banning the use of deep fake videos for pornography.

When considering future legislation to govern artificial intelligence, lawmakers will need to make sure they don’t violate First Amendment free-speech protections, said Ben Sheffner, a lawyer for the Motion Picture Association.

During the hearing, lawmakers repeatedly asked whether other states or countries could be looked to for templates on how to craft AI policy. Until now, a patchwork of state and federal regulations have tried to limit the use of AI, with limited success.

California lawmakers have introduced a bill requiring AI developers and implementers to reduce the risks of “catastrophic harm” in their technology. Tech companies are fighting to kill this law. Colorado also passed a law regulating the use of AI in certain “high risk” scenarios, such as those related to education, employment or healthcare. Colorado’s governor has already said the law needs to be changed before it takes effect in 2026.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/27/artificial-intelligence-regulation-texas/.

The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, member-supported newsroom that informs and engages Texans in state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

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Texas Legislation InsurTech Data-Driven Artificial Intelligence