Artificial intelligence is more than a buzzword these days. It impacts many parts of our lives. And Governor Glenn Youngkin has announced a new task force to work with legislators to put guard rails on the rapidly developing technology.
Youngkin announced his intent to develop the task force earlier this year but released the names of members Wednesday. In that announcement the governor said “while there are amazing opportunities with AI, there are also inherent risks that we must tackle head-on. “
To that end a team of both partisan and nonpartisan thinkers will assemble in the coming months to help steer the Commonwealth on future regulation.
“Virginia’s world-class universities, companies, and military bases position it to lead the nation in the development of AI," Youngkin said in a statement, "The AI Task Force will play a critical role in ensuring that Virginia stays at the forefront of this rapidly developing industry."
Senator Lashrecse Aird is not on the task force but has led Virginia’s effort to regulate AI and tech since 2020 at the legislature.
“At the pace AI is rapidly expanding, more people are falling into the category of this technology and a limited understanding of how this technology and how it affects them,” Aird told Radio IQ.
Aird is targeting the state's use of AI in yet-to-be-written legislation in 2025.
"The state, our state agencies, our courts, my legislation is about how public bodies ensure that any technology they're using that is considered high risk," she said using an industry term "risk" to mean the capacity for something to cause harm.
"I reference high risk, because that is where it's consequential that has the ability to change the outcome of someone's life," Aird said. "It's not just any and every software that has AI in it, or any type of program that uses AI."
And while she's cautiously optimistic about Youngkin’s task force she hopes it’ll open doors to future collaboration.
“I hope the governor sees this as a foundation and supports it, but the task force then uses it as a leap pad to get into the other categories of issues that are still out there lingering,” she said, pointing to issues like healthcare, education, how this tech could affect workers.
University of Virginia law professor Elizabeth Rowe studies data privacy and AI. She said starting with regulating the government's use of the tech can be a good first step as the rules they set for their own purchases can ripple out into the private sector.
“When companies are making technologies, they want to sell it, that's the whole point, they want to make money," Rowe told Radio IQ. "And who doesn't want to sell it to the largest consumer, the federal government and state governments.”
Still, she warned no one should move too fast on such a broad and diverse issue that is going to evolve and impact so many Virginians' lives if its not already.
"I can see legislators sort of banging their heads up against the wall saying, 'this is too big,'" she joked. "This is very complex, and you need to be very thoughtful and take your time."
Any new legislative effort will be brought before the public in 3 months.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.