OLYMPIA — Immediately, Washington Lawyer Basic Bob Ferguson introduced his appointments to the newly created Synthetic Intelligence (AI) Activity Drive within the Lawyer Basic’s Workplace. This job drive will deliver collectively expertise consultants, business representatives, labor organizations, civil liberty teams, and different stakeholders to debate the advantages and challenges of AI. The duty drive will problem findings, guiding ideas, and coverage suggestions.
“The affect of Synthetic Intelligence in our economic system and each day lives is an pressing problem of our time,” Ferguson mentioned. “Washington will lead on progressive and moral AI, as now we have in so many areas. I recognize the duty drive members for committing their time and experience, exemplifying why Washington is a expertise chief on this nation.”
Ferguson partnered with Sen. Joe Nguyen, D-White Heart, to create the duty drive via Senate Invoice 5838, with Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn, sponsoring the companion invoice within the Home. The invoice handed the Legislature with bipartisan assist.
AI expertise is quickly growing, significantly generative AI — AI that creates content material akin to textual content, photographs, or audio. Instruments like ChatGPT have rapidly develop into among the fastest-growing client web purposes.
A current survey discovered that 79% of respondents in North America reported some publicity to generative AI, with 41% utilizing it frequently and 22% utilizing it frequently at work. In line with a examine reported in Forbes, half of People who work together with AI don’t understand it.
Ferguson’s job drive consists of consultants from numerous fields:
- Sen. Joe Nguyen, D-White Heart
- Sen. Matt Boehnke, R-Kennewick
- Rep. Clyde Shavers, D-Clinton
- A member of the Home Republican Caucus to be decided
- Sheri Sawyer — Deputy Director of Coverage & Outreach, Governor’s Workplace
- Rick Talbert — Senior Mission Advisor, Auditor’s Workplace
- Katy Ruckle — Chief Privateness Officer, Washington Know-how Options
- Dr. Magdalena Balazinska — Director, Paul G. Allen Faculty of Laptop Science and Engineering, College of Washington
- Kelly Fukai — Vice President of Authorities and Group Affairs, Washington Know-how Trade Affiliation
- Ryan Harkins — Senior Director of Public Coverage, Microsoft
- Dr. Tee Sannon — Know-how Coverage Program Director, ACLU-Washington
- Vicky Tamaru — buildJUSTLY
- Paula Sardinas — WA Construct Again Black Alliance
- Leah Koshiyama — Senior Director of Accountable AI & Tech, Salesforce
- Crystal Leatherman — Washington Retail Affiliation
- Montana Miranda — Senior Supervisor of Authorities Affairs, Washington Hospitality Affiliation
- Cherika Carter — Secretary Treasurer, Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO
- Chief Darrell Lowe — Redmond Police Division
The duty drive will embody subcommittees specializing in numerous key areas akin to schooling and workforce growth, public security and ethics, well being care and accessibility, labor, authorities and public sector effectivity, state safety and cybersecurity, client safety and privateness, and business and innovation. Moreover, the duty drive might create additional subcommittees as wanted. The Lawyer Basic’s Workplace will even set up a Tribal advisory group and a Enterprise advisory group to offer common updates on AI-related points particular to growing, deploying, and utilizing AI in companies giant and small throughout the state.
The duty drive will think about a variety of mandated subjects, together with mental property and personhood protections (akin to replicas of voice or likeness), high-risk makes use of of AI that would negatively have an effect on security or basic rights, and the suitable human oversight and accountability wanted in these contexts. It’s going to additionally tackle systemic racial disparity points perpetuated in AI techniques, strategies for safeguarding staff throughout industries from hurt and bias by AI techniques, alternatives to assist innovation, and methods to enhance transparency and public schooling about AI, knowledge privateness, and safety.
Over the following two years, the duty drive will problem findings, guiding ideas, and submit a report with coverage suggestions. The primary assembly will probably be this summer season, and the duty drive will meet no less than twice a 12 months. The ultimate report and suggestions are because of the governor and Legislature by July 1, 2026.
A minimum of 25 states have launched laws associated to AI. Legislatures in states together with Colorado, Illinois, Texas, Vermont, and Virginia have created job forces or commissions to review AI. A number of governors have additionally created AI job forces by government order.
