Resources

As AI advances at a record pace, policymakers (like the rest of us) are trying to wrap their heads around what this technology could mean for our future. Today, we’re tracking hundreds of pieces of legislation introduced on the state and federal level.

Tracking proposed legislation is essential but for a full rundown of current laws affecting AI in the 50 states, we’ve provided individual overview documents for each state. Browse online or download a formatted version to take to your next meeting.

As the capabilities of generative AI technology advance, the ability to create realistic-looking fake images, videos, and voices becomes easier and easier. This proliferation of “deepfake” media is a major concern for policymakers.

The flip side of AI technology’s economy-boosting potential is the assumption that if AI succeeds as currently imagined, it’ll replace much of today’s workforce. Unsurprisingly, this is a major concern for state lawmakers and their constituents. So far, state lawmakers have proposed several strategies to address this issue.

Policymakers quickly became skeptical of facial recognition, especially when used on the public without consent. States initially moved forward to restrict facial recognition use by law enforcement. But Illinois enacted a law to protect biometric information more broadly.

We’re already seeing some of the real-world, negative impacts as AI is used to produce nonconsensual, sexual deepfake images and videos showing real individuals depicted in a sexually explicit manner. These images often contain the face of an actual person on a naked or partially clothed body that is not their own and disproportionately targets women. States are moving quickly to combat the alarming proliferation of nonconsensual sexual deepfakes.

A direct concern of lawmakers and industry leaders is AI’s use to influence 2024 election results. AI, in the form of “deepfake” images, audio, and video could be used to manipulate images and recordings to change a candidate’s speech into something they didn’t say or doctor images to perpetuate false narratives, for example.

Lawmakers in states across the country are working to educate themselves on artificial intelligence. To do so, they’ve formed study committees, task forces, and working groups dedicated to hearing from experts and stakeholders with the goal of developing recommendations on how best to regulate AI at this stage in the technology’s development. We’ve collected the information on each into a comprehensive resource.

The idea of autonomous vehicles (AVs), cars that can drive themselves, has promised to transform our everyday lives. But the day when a majority of vehicles on the road are driverless is still far into the future. In the meantime, states are confronting the issue head-on as policymakers balance safety concerns with attracting these lucrative investments into their borders.