Hartford Business Journal

12 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | NOVEMBER 13, 2023 State Sen. James Maroney (D-Milford) has become a leading voice on AI legislation and oversight in Connecticut. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED 'Eyes Wide Open' CT legislative working group contemplating AI rules for businesses By Michael Puffer mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com A fter adopting safeguards to prevent artificial intelli- gence-related discrimination in state services, lawmakers are working to develop rules for private industry. Connecticut businesses that develop or utilize artificial intelligence could find themselves responsible for ensuring that use doesn't lead to harm. Gov. Ned Lamont, in June, signed legislation requiring state agencies to review their use of AI and perform ongoing tests to ensure these systems don't lead to discrim- ination or disadvantages for people based on ethnicity, race, religion, age or other factors. The law also seeks to guard against disclosure of personal information. Meantime, it established a working group to develop further recom- mendations, including possible new requirements for private-sector businesses using AI. The 21-member group is required to deliver policy recommendations to state lawmakers by Feb. 1, which will likely make AI a hot-button issue during the upcoming 2024 legislative session, which runs from Feb. 7 to May 8. Connecticut is not alone in attempting to regulate AI. Several states are working on similar legisla- tive tracks. And President Joe Biden, on Oct. 30, issued an executive order imposing safeguards on AI devel- opers, and calling for the estab- lishment of additional resources to mitigate the risks and maximize the benefits of artificial intelligence. Potential new business requirements In Connecticut, state Sen. James Maroney (D-Milford) has become a leading voice on AI legislation and oversight. The co-chair of the General Law Committee also oversees the state's newly formed AI working group, which will make policy recommendations to not only regulate, but also promote the use of AI by Connecticut businesses. The group met twice through late October, and is bringing in various academic and private industry experts for consultation. During a recent meeting, the group heard from Washington's chief privacy officer about that state's generative AI policies, as well as from an expert at Big Four accounting and consulting firm Deloitte, Maroney said. The working group has discussed various topics, including the use of AI within state government. As of Oct. 26, officials were more than halfway through an assessment of the approximately 1,400 different applications or programs used by various state agencies and have found just five that currently use AI, Maroney said. "So, out of the more than 800 applications that have been reviewed so far, five different systems are employing AI," said Maroney, a Yale graduate who is the founder and director of Milford-based First Choice College Placement, a private tutoring and SAT prep company. "It's not in widespread use at the moment." Of key concern, he added, are programs that use AI to make deci- sions on things like who qualifies for certain benefits, such as food stamps or unemployment. In cases like that, there needs to be transparency in the data and methods being used to train the AI to ensure outcomes aren't biased against a particular group of people, Maroney said. Of less concern are AI uses like chatbots. Maroney, who is also on a multi- state AI task force, said artificial intel- ligence could have a positive impact on state government in various ways, including with customer service support, such as directing people or businesses to proper agencies or resources. It can also help improve workforce efficiencies, particularly as state government has experienced a CT's new AI regulations By Greg Bordonaro gbordonaro@hartfordbusiness.com G ov. Ned Lamont signed into law in June legislation that created new oversight and restrictions on the use of artificial intelligence in state government. The new law: • Requires executive and judicial branches to annually inventory all their systems that employ artificial intelligence, and make policies and procedures on developing, procuring, using and assessing systems that use AI. • Requires state agencies to publicly post the inventory and policies and procedures online. • Beginning Feb. 1, 2024, the executive and judicial branches are prohibited from imple- menting any system that uses AI unless they have done an impact assessment to make sure the system will not result in any unlawful discrimination or disparate impact against specified people or groups of people based on actual or perceived characteristics (e.g., age and race). • Establishes a 21-member working group to make recom- mendations to the General Law Committee on certain AI issues. • Prohibits state contracting agencies from entering a contract unless it has a provi- sion requiring the business to comply with Connecticut's consumer data privacy law.

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