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April 22, 2024

Judiciary Committee votes on sweeping CT AI regulation bill

HBJ Photo | Skyler Frazer State Sen. James Maroney (D-Milford) speaks during a press conference Monday, April 22, 2024 about artificial intelligence legislation.
By Skyler Frazer

The Connecticut General Assembly’s Judiciary Committee today is set to vote on a revised version of a sweeping artificial intelligence regulatory framework bill that state Sen. James Maroney (D-Milford) hopes will quell many of the concerns raised by businesses and critics earlier this session.

Senate Bill 2, first introduced this session by the General Law Committee and sent to the Judiciary Committee last week by the Senate, is a multi-part proposal that would implement several AI-related regulations while also ramping up investment in artificial intelligence education and workforce training.

The full revised draft of the bill is expected to be released later today or tomorrow, Maroney said Monday morning, but the core changes include the removal of “Section 4,” which was the most controversial part of the proposal for technology businesses.

Section 4 would require businesses that create general-purpose AI, or programs that can perform a wide range of intellectual tasks that can mirror humans such as audio or video generation or image and speech recognition services, to disclose a plethora of information about their technology and be subject to annual review.

Maroney said the plan is to create a task force regarding language in Section 4 and act on the recommendations in a future session.

“I think that it may be too soon for that section of the bill,” Maroney said. “That section was what was causing the most angst among a lot of large companies I've been speaking with.”

Another new part of Maroney’s AI bill would give people the right to appeal any “adverse consequential decision arising from deployment of high-risk AI systems, and if technically feasible, allow for human review.”

Meantime, massive technology companies IBM and Microsoft recently announced support of Connecticut’s pending AI legislation.

“Connecticut’s smart, pragmatic AI legislation is an outstanding model which other states and the U.S. Congress would be wise to follow,” IBM Vice President of Government and Regulatory Affairs Chris Padilla said in a statement Monday. “IBM strongly supports this legislation as it will balance innovation with protecting the needs and interests of consumers, and it applies a risk-based approach that recognizes that one-size-fits-all AI regulation simply does not work.”

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