After passing several AI bills in 2024, the Idaho Legislature is expected to introduce more next session

The Idaho State Capitol in Boise on January 23, 2024. (Otto Kitsinger for the Idaho Capital Sun)

This year, the Idaho Legislature passed three new laws aimed at regulation. AI – targeting open and political deepfakes and AI-generated child exploitative material.

And before the Idaho Legislature reconvenes In January, a legislative panel is examining artificial intelligence for possible new state laws.

Artificial Intelligence Working Group They gathered at the Idaho State Capitol on Friday to hear from three artificial intelligence experts about the technology’s legal challenges and promises.

“I think a different version of this quote has been said before. “Don’t worry about AI,” Erick Herring, partner at software engineering firm Vynyl, told lawmakers. ”’Worry about knowing what the established powers will do to you with AI.’”

Herring said he thinks this is especially true from a geopolitical perspective.

“I think we should be worried about other nations being ahead of us on this,” he said.

What new laws regulate AI in Idaho?

In 2024, the Idaho Legislature passed three laws regulating the use of artificial intelligence:

• House Bill 575 Targeting open deepfakes, it makes it a crime to use “open synthetic media” to “annoy, intimidate, intimidate, harass, offend, humiliate or humiliate” or threaten disclosure of material to obtain something of value.

• Bill 664 It targeted political deepfakes by allowing candidates in elections to seek legal remedies, including banning the publication of “synthetic media” that deceptively represent candidates’ speeches or actions in electioneering communications.

• House Bill 465 AI-generated sexual depictions of children have been added to Idaho’s criminal child pornography and child sexual exploitation law.

Idaho lawmakers are playing with artificial intelligence

As the meeting ended, Senate Majority Leader Kelly Anthon, R-Burley, co-chair of the panel, told lawmakers she had been dabbling in artificial intelligence during the meeting. He said he asked an AI tool to create an image of himself.

The photo he later showed to the Idaho Capital Sun depicted her with earrings. He told the Sun he thought the vehicle might believe it was a woman based on her first name, Kelly.

“That was interesting,” Anthon told lawmakers. “… There will be practices that I can see that will really increase the efficiency of government for taxpayers and the average Idaho. This, as I said before, has its dangers in terms of jurisdiction and implementation. And I’m afraid there will be calls for that.”

The panel’s other co-chair, Rep. Jeff Ehlers, R-Meridian, read the closing statement, which he said was created by Chat GPT.

“As we conclude today’s debate on artificial intelligence, it is clear that we are at a pivotal moment in shaping the future of this transformative technology. Ehlers said artificial intelligence has tremendous potential to spur innovation, improve public services and create new economic opportunities. “But with this power comes a shared responsibility to ensure ethical development, transparency and fair access. As lawmakers, it is our duty to foster an environment in which AI can thrive while also protecting against risks that could undermine privacy, justice, and social welfare. “Let’s work together to create thoughtful, balanced policies that will help address the challenges of AI while harnessing its benefits, ensuring it serves the common good for future generations.”

Ehlers said he didn’t necessarily to accept With AI-generated descriptions. But “this is what AI wants us to do,” he said.

What AI experts tell the Idaho Legislature’s AI working group

Christopher Ritter, Director of the Digital Innovation Center of Excellence at Idaho National Laboratory, stated that advances in artificial intelligence are promising. But he said policymakers need to consider how to keep Idaho and the United States in its current leadership position.

At this point, no one would recommend replacing a software engineer with AI, but generative AI is already helping to expand the capabilities of software engineers, with Google estimating that 25% of created code is created through AI.

“The honest answer is that right now AI is not going to take over the world, and it doesn’t even have a live connection to do such a thing,” Ritter said.

SUBSCRIBE: GET MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

Bradlee Frazer, a partner at the Hawley Troxell law firm, said everyone listening to the committee hearing is worth thousands or more in royalties when their creative ideas are placed in tangible media such as emails, poetry and photography. However, some parts of works created by artificial intelligence do not have copyright protection.

“You are interrupting everything. You put it in an AI group and a human-authored group. “And the human-written bucket has copyright protection,” he said.

Users of generative AI tools trained by scraping tons of data from the internet risk violating copyright protections, Frazer said, pointing to a frightening AI-created crown that warns lawmakers that resembles Pennywise, a movie based on Pennywise. Stephen King’s novel “It”.

“How would you feel if you knew that your website was being turned into a commercial enterprise by this broad language model without notice, fee, or permission? “As you can understand, I have concerns about this,” he told MPs.

Frazer said he constantly monitors AI-related litigation and copyright regulations to understand how the law might change. But Frazer said scraping is copyright infringement in the United States until the judge says otherwise.

He also acknowledged how AI holds promise for improving productivity in his own work and even in medical diagnostics.

Most of the legislation Frazer has seen has focused on providing disclaimers for businesses using AI.

Next steps for the Idaho Legislature’s AI working group

The panel is expected to reconvene before the legislature reconvenes on January 6.

In the future, the panel could dive deeper and potentially focus on potential legislation on a variety of topics. Committee members say they hope the panel can hear from national groups working with state legislatures and understand how artificial intelligence is being used in education.

“This is of course something that will permeate almost every corner of politics that I think the state will face in the years and decades to come. So it is our responsibility as legislators to continue to examine this issue,” Anthon said.

SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR BUSINESS POSSIBLE