After two years of task forces, collapsed deals, attempted overhauls and an Elon Musk lawsuit, Colorado lawmakers are finally poised to rewrite – and scale back – the state’s beleaguered artificial intelligence regulations. The latest legislation, in contrast to those earlier stutter-starts, is flying through the legislature. By Saturday afternoon, Senate Bill 189 had met little resistance, had passed both chambers and was headed to Gov. Jared Polis’ desk, as the clock ticks down to the annual legislative session’s adjournment Wednesday night…
Jim Samuel, an associate professor at Rutgers University who focuses on artificial intelligence and data science, was more supportive of the bill’s approach.
He argues that bias is inherent in data because humans are biased. AI can never be perfect, he said, because humans aren’t perfect, and attempting to tweak the information that feeds into artificial intelligence would have unintended consequences.
The best option, Samuel continued, was to provide transparency and education to consumers.
He called for continued oversight of AI companies and refinement of laws to protect consumers. Echoing calls from some consumer groups, Hall, from the Center for Democracy and Technology, said SB-189 was a starting point.
“It’s not nothing, and it is a little bit like – crawl, walk, run,” he said. The rules set to take effect next month were akin to walking, “and we’re going back a little bit to a crawl. But we’re still moving forward. And it does provide some traction for accountability in these systems.”