Welcome to the Future!
A consortium of state legislators has been assembled by Connecticut State Sen. James Maroney, D- Milford. The group meets twice a month. The goal is a coordinated state response that doesn’t inhibit AI.
Governing | One Connecticut Lawmaker Leads National Effort on AI Policy
NASCIO’s annual State CIO Survey found 94% of state CIOs are responsible for maintaining a “robust, reliable and secure infrastructure” and 92% coordinate with other state officials during disasters. 72% said their state “generally takes a federated approach to technology disaster recovery and business continuity, meaning responsibilities are shared across state agencies and among leadership.”
Route Fifty | State CIOs take on bigger role in natural disasters
An economist at MIT this week shared that 5% of U.S. jobs could be done by AI. Beyond that, the economist said AI will not live up to its hype. @bloombergbusiness
Here’s some new messaging on AI. Santa Fe, New Mexico public schools are talking about AI as a “thought partner.” Students are being told to consider AI as a “co-pilot to enhance human creativity.” This verbage is similar to North Carolina that created an acceptable use AI scale from 0 to 4. 4 is use AI as much as you’d like. 0 is no way, now how to AI.
Governing | Santa Fe Schools Embrace AI as ‘Thought Partner’
Tennessee Governor signed SB1894 (2024 | TN) that seeks to make it easier to cancel your subscriptions. You know those $1.99/mo apps that renew for $15/mo. Opposition in Tennessee included cable companies and streaming services. The bill that passed would require clear and conspicuous notices on renewals.
Route Fifty | Some states want to make it easier to cancel subscriptions
California’s Governor vetoed SB1074 (2024 | CA), a bill that would have required Artificial Intelligence testing on the costliest AI. His veto statement said that the bill “could give the public a false sense of security about controlling this fast-moving technology.” The statement concludes, “protecting against actual threats without unnecessarily thwarting the promise of this technology to advance the public good – we must get this right.”
Cal Matters | Why Gavin Newsom vetoed California’s bold bid to regulate AI
@MITSloan researchers developed an AI risk mitigation guide. Included is that you should first do your work without AI. Later, bring in AI for a subtask to verify AI’s accuracy. The full guide for AI risk mitigation.
“Microsoft, Blackrock, “BlackRock, Microsoft, Global Infrastructure Partners and United Arab Emirates-based technology investment firm MGX announced a partnership to invest in new and expanded data center infrastructure to meet artificial intelligence computing needs and the energy supply needed to support these facilities.” They seek to raise $30 billion in private equity capital and up to $100 billion with debt financing.
Utility Dive | BlackRock, Microsoft, others form AI and energy infrastructure investment partnership
North Carolina has approved the use of digital student IDs for voting. North Carolina doing something that many say makes it easier for young people to vote- not on my bingo card for 2024. State GOP has pledged to stop implementation- naturally, the state GOP tweeted about it.
Route Fifty | North Carolina OKs the use of student digital IDs to vote
Sonoma County has adopted an AI policy that would allow AI use by the local government if the AI is on an approved list, and can only be used for tasks including writing emails, reports, policies and job descriptions, completing spreadsheet calculations and data analysis and developing or debugging code. Santa Cruz, San Benito, and San Francisco counties have also local approved AI policies. This begs the question about statewide policies and the role of the California State Association of Counties and National Association of Counties.
Governing | California County AI Policy Could Be Instructive for Other Localities