MADISON, Wis. – Attorney General Josh Kaul and a bipartisan coalition of 35 attorneys general wrote to Congress to oppose efforts to ban state laws that address artificial intelligence. Public reporting over the past few days indicates that lawmakers may insert a state AI law ban into a military funding bill. A bipartisan group of attorneys general, including AG Kaul, opposed a similar ban earlier this year.
“Prohibiting states from putting in place laws that can help protect against dangers associated with AI would be a major mistake,” said AG Kaul. “Congress shouldn’t be sacrificing the interests of the public as a whole in order to benefit big tech.”
The attorneys general acknowledge that AI is a transformative technology that may benefit people in health care, public safety, and other ways. However, recent reporting suggests that AI can distort reality and enhance delusions for some vulnerable users, and is being used to target senior citizens with convincing grandparent scams, have inappropriate conversations with children, and reinforce or encourage self-harm and suicidal ideation in children and adults.
A ban on state AI laws could undermine public safety. Some states have enacted laws to protect their residents from the dangers of AI, including laws that prohibit AI tools that spread misinformation to voters, allow robocallers to spam people with scam phone calls and texts, deceive consumers about products on the market, compromise data privacy, and use algorithms to manipulate and raise costs.
Instead of a prohibition on state AI laws, the attorneys general are asking Congressional leaders to work with them on a substantive effort to create federal protections against harmful AI.
Attorney General Kaul is joined in sending this letter to Congress by the attorneys general of American Samoa, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington.
