Other Papers Say: Washington state must regulate AI swiftly

The following editorial originally appeared in The Seattle Times:

Ask an AI model like Microsoft Copilot to name the dangers of artificial intelligence, and it will offer a startling assessment of itself and others like it: An ability to hoover up an internet’s worth of data could lead to “uncontrolled self-improvement,” where humans lose control, conjuring a dystopian future about which science fiction has long forewarned.

Yet other hazards Copilot lists are pressing today: Deepfakes, or doctored images and videos, can distort public opinion, ruin reputations and throw elections. AI models can also spread misinformation, absorb private data and copyrighted content, and discriminate against job seekers during the hiring process.

Governments around the world are proposing guardrails around this rapidly advancing technology. Lawmakers’ paramount goal should be to protect the privacy and dignity of all Americans as AI changes many facets of society. Already, President Joe Biden and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee have issued executive orders that will guide AI development and use with the federal and state government, respectively. But what about the private sector?

State lawmakers around the country this year introduced over 400 AI-related bills in 41 states, according to the Software Alliance. Washington’s Legislature in 2023 attempted to tackle deepfakes with a law that empowers victims to sue for damages and, during this year’s session, passed a bill to give recourse to victims whose faces are used to make pornographic content.

Lawmakers also chose to create a task force recommended by Attorney General Bob Ferguson to “assess uses, develop guiding principles, and make recommendations for the regulation of generative artificial intelligence.”

The task force, in a state home to Microsoft and a hotbed of tech, should move swiftly to create proposals ready for debate in the 2025 legislative session.

State Sen. Joe Nguyen, D-White Center, and Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn, sponsored bills to create the task force. Though they differ politically, they equally face the reality that many legislators have little understanding of AI. Nguyen, a former Microsoft program manager, fears that when there’s a need for regulation but lack of knowledge, lawmakers tend to choose two options: “do nothing, or ban it. (The task force) needs to work to find the middle ground.”

What Copilot foresees when queried about AI’s dangers concludes with caution about the “promise and peril” of generative AI: “In summary, while AI holds immense potential, we must tread carefully, ensuring safety, transparency, and ethical guidelines in its development and deployment.”

To do those things will require the Legislature to pass thoroughly vetted and well-crafted bills. Congress, which convened an AI task force in February, should craft action for federal legislation, too.