It’s not the first time state policymakers have brought AI specialists to Frankfort in an effort to understand how and whether the rapidly evolving technology should be integrated into state functions.
Lawmakers first heard from Ryan Harkins, senior director of public policy for Microsoft, who outlined some possible uses for AI in state government – in areas such as upgrading older systems, summarizing documents, and code generation. But like all guests who have spoken on the topic, Harkins had plenty of caveats.
"We should have safety brakes in place, particularly if AI is going to be used to help us manage critical infrastructure, so that if we can identify that things seem to be going wrong we have the capacity or the ability to shut things down and prevent harm to our electrical grid or the water supply, our transportation networks, among other things," Harkins said.
Lawmakers raised concerns about bias within AI systems, misuse, deepfakes, and hallucinations – that's when AI produces false information or predictions.
Lexington Democrat Reggie Thomas said he’s worried that the lack of expertise in AI in state government is leading to states to rely on outside parties to handle the new technologies.
"My concern is... doesn't that create a whole host of new problems for us?" Thomas asked. "If we're turning over our our database of information on state residents to a third party, I mean that sounds very worrisome to me."
Doug Robinson, executive director of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers, said governments are losing IT expertise to retirements and having difficulty attracting younger talent.
"It's a tremendous opportunity for artificial intelligence in general to serve citizens, but there's again serious concerns around the states, related to the capabilities and disciplines of the existing employees within the state," Robinson said. "They don't have the existing training and knowledge to use these tools effectively."
Tuesday’s meeting of the Artificial Intelligence Task Force was meant to serve as a broad introduction to the current issues surrounding AI. No bills or actions were proposed.
