Artificial Intelligence on the minds of Georgia Senate study committee

July 16th, 2024

The Georgia Senate Artificial Intelligence Study Committee is set to meet Wednesday at Georgia Tech to explore the extent Georgia lawmakers should promote policies to attract AI business and research and how much they should focus on preventing pitfalls like loss of jobs or privacy.

“One of the things we heard a lot at least early on was about how the EU is taking a very maybe regulatory approach toward AI,” said Sen. Max Burns, a Sylvania Republican, speaking at the inaugural AI Committee hearing last month. “And our goal, I hope, would be to support AI and support the innovation and the expansion of AI, appropriately, so that it’s good for Georgia, it’s good for Georgians, it’s good for our nation, and I think we can do that, but we don’t need to take maybe the approach that says restrictions as opposed to, as you point out, maybe innovation.”

“I would offer a friendly addition to that as we’re looking through these priorities,” Atlanta Democratic Sen. Jason Esteves said.

“In my opinion, the primary function of government, one of them, is to protect its citizens, make sure its citizens are protected,” he added. “And you mentioned, Mr. Chairman, that AI, the comparison to a wheel, it’s transformational. It will change the trajectory of human history. And with that, we should be ensuring that in addition to supporting AI, we are protecting citizens from potential impacts of AI, and that should be a priority – the priority for us.”

Committee Chairman Sen. John Albers, a Roswell Republican, said the responsibility for striking that balance will likely fall on the state government.

“A lot of times, legislation tends to be adopted on the state level. There’s a blessing and a curse there,” he said. “The good news is sometimes we can make things more Georgia-specific, where we like to find a unique balance. The bad news is sometimes you get 50 versions of something, which is not necessarily good for consumers or businesses.”

The committee, which includes four Republicans and two Democrats, will work on modeling AI legislation across realms including health care, education, infrastructure, business and labor in as many as twelve total meetings to be held around the state before the 2025 legislative session is set to begin in January.

Albers, who also chairs the Senate Public Safety Committee, said finding ways to use AI to help police and first responders will be one of the committee’s priorities. AI technology can help 911 dispatchers send help more quickly and assist police in solving cybercrime, but it can also open up new ways to break the law.

“Going after the criminal street gangs, counter-terrorism organizations, et cetera, using AI is significant, but it’s also a little scary, because you have to make sure what’s done for good is not also being used for bad or for evil,” Albers said.

Proposed AI legislation has elicited free speech concerns. This year, a bill backed by House Republican leadership aimed at regulating campaigns’ use of AI-generated deep fakes of opponents ahead of an election passed the House but stalled in the Senate. Similar legislation is likely to come back next year, and lawmakers have also discussed penalizing people who use AI to create obscene images of minors.

The hearing is set for 10 a.m., is open to the public and will be streamed live on the Georgia General Assembly website.

This story was provided by WABE content partner Georgia Recorder.