Colorado and Connecticut are taking the lead to regulate AI development, distribution, and application in the country amid a surge in lobbying for the technology, Politico reported.
Amid the lack of federal legislation to regulate the technology, the two states have been pushing package bills to prevent discrimination in AI services related to health care, education, and housing.
Another proposal is posed to prohibit explicit deepfakes following the controversy of sexual deepfakes of Taylor Swift going viral in late January.
A Colorado bill would even protect consumers against the "consequential" effects of AI, including requirements for companies to provide risk and impact assessments on their products before releasing the technology to the public.
As of writing, more than 400 AI-related bills are being proposed across 40 countries as each state took different approaches to handling the emerging industry amid its rapid developments.
AI Bills Related to Public Services, Employment Popular Among State Regulations
As noted by Digital Watch last October, AI legislatures on employment and public services are the most common focus of the bills currently being pushed across multiple states.
The proposed regulations follow after earlier warnings, including from the International Monetary Fund, about its impact on people's livelihood as evidenced by the surge of layoffs last year.
Tech industry tracker Layoffs.fyi recorded over 263,000 confirmed job cuts in 2023, a record that this year's number seems to be getting closer just five months since 2024 started.
Lawmakers Push Back on State-by-State Approach on AI Regulation
Despite efforts to tackle the emerging problem, the states' push for AI regulation is also facing headwinds from other legislators concerned about the country's state-by-state approach.
In the same Politico report, Colorado is reportedly facing pressure from fellow legislators as it would be a big undertaking for a single state to handle the push to regulate all the AI firms operating in the region.
Connecticut's proposal is also receiving pushback from its very own governor claiming that such laws are "premature for Connecticut to jump way ahead of this."
The national government's push to regulate AI is at a similar state as departments remain stuck consolidating proposed rules to AI firms amid the barrage of lobbying surge across the White House and Capitol Hill.
According to a CNBC report, the federal government reported a 185% increase in lobbying for AI since its initial boom last year and expects the same trend to continue this year.
