Brady PieperHow can the responsible implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) benefit the ’ everyday life of people in the state of Georgia?
A study committee within Georgia’s Senate is unveiling a comprehensive final report that intends to answer this question, while also providing recommendations and potential guardrails for the state as it enters an AI-enhanced future.
“AI represents one of the most dynamic and complex advancements of our time,” Senator and Study Committee Chairman John Albers said in a press release. “This committee worked diligently to ensure Georgia is not only prepared for the opportunities AI offers but also vigilant in addressing its challenges, from ethical concerns to workforce implications.”
During Georgia’s 2024 Legislative Session, lawmakers approved Senate Resolution 476, which directed the Senate Study Committee on AI to explore how AI could reshape various public sectors. Following months of research and community input, the committee’s final report will be used by state lawmakers as a strategic framework to guide future policymaking regarding AI’s potential for and implications on the public.
The final report includes a total of 22 recommendations and findings that encompass various aspects of AI in Georgia. The report features a variety of potential impacts, consequences and misuses for the public, but also provides appropriate policies, procedures and best paths for AI’s responsible and ethical implementation.
The report is organized by sector–Education & Workforce, Public Safety, Healthcare, Oversight and general government–and will include individual recommendations for each industry.
Georgia’s K-12 schools that prohibit the usage of AI are not preparing students to meet skills companies require when they graduate, according to the report. Schools could utilize personalized AI learning and assistive technologies to develop children’s critical thinking skills and responsibilities. By encouraging public and private partnerships, creating skill programs and developing AI plans for schools, the report anticipates these initiatives would better prepare students for life outside of school.
AI innovations can also offer solutions that could improve public safety in emergency situations. According to the study, lawmakers should work with local and state law enforcement agencies to identify and appropriate AI technologies and data-driven predictive models to increase efficiency in emergency response systems and first responder call times.
Offering benefits to patient care, predictive analytics and administrative efficiency, the healthcare sector could work with state agencies to enable AI tools that would increase overall efficiency and healthcare outcomes. The report also includes a perpetual consideration for mental healthcare services and AI’s impact on mental health generally.
The final report emphasizes maintaining the public’s trust and reinforces a statewide commitment to the safe and ethical usage of AI. To better safeguard the public, the report recommends several protections against the harmful usage of AI, including deep fake interactions, equitable liability standards and human accountability within important AI interventions. Public AI transparency recommendations, such as AI disclosures for companies and products, voluntary certification programs and legal requirements, are also included in the final report.
For local and state governments, the study committee unveiled a plethora of recommendations and considerations to involve in any decision-making process, including developing a statewide definition of AI, transparency and reporting requirements and data-driven insights. Primarily, however, the report asks every Georgia state agency, department, team, school system, county and city to create a comprehensive AI plan and policy.
The committee provides guidance on what entities should consider when developing AI plans and policies:
- Outline purpose, goals and objectives for AI policy and deployment.
- Establish ethical principles, unbiased and fair mechanisms and data privacy considerations.
- Define responsibilities for AI governance with accountable guidelines and data ownership.
- Identify potential risks, compliance and monitoring/auditing processes to mitigate hazards and consequences associated with AI technologies.
- Provide guidelines and define requirements for transparency and explainability to ensure AI decisions are understood and documented.
- Address data governance and data security protocols to protect sensitive information and system accuracy.
- Define human oversight in AI input and output processes to offer an alternative override.
- Outline training programs for employees and an educational plan to inform the workforce on changes to AI technologies and best practices.
- Emphasize an adaptive approach to constantly evaluate AI models, tools and policies.
- Establish a system, protocol and reporting requirements for incidents in the case of AI malfunctions, biases or breaches.
Other state and local government considerations included in the report recommended the creation of a state board for AI and collaboration with other forward-thinking states to craft future AI legislation and potential multistate compacts.
The report also includes several industry-specific findings that encompass the entertainment, agricultural and manufacturing industries.
Georgia’s entertainment industry is noted as a significant contributor to the state economy, according to the report, but is losing productions to growing competition from international markets. The report anticipates AI as a potential solution to retain productions and recommends incentivizing state-based entertainment projects that incorporate AI innovation.
For agriculture, the report indicates that AI could leverage everything from predictive insights for crop yields to real-time soil and environmental monitoring to assist farmers. The committee recommends lawmakers foster financial aid programs and provide grants for smaller agricultural operations to implement AI innovations. This would also reinforce the state’s effort to offer equitable public access to AI technologies.
The manufacturing industry, while already advancing safety, efficiency and development initiatives, is currently not prepared for an AI-enhanced future, according to the committee. The report recommends collaborations between public, private and research entities to improve the manufacturing sector’s digital maturity and ready the workforce for the effective adoption of AI technology.
To help shape the report’s recommendations, the committee conducted statewide meetings with industry stakeholders, including input from tech leaders, educators, healthcare professionals and community organizations.
As Georgia progresses into an AI-driven future, the Senate Study Committee on AI’s findings and recommendations will serve as a strategic blueprint for lawmakers to implement these innovative technologies safely and ethically. Available publicly, the committee’s full final report can be found here.
“I’m proud of the collaborative effort that shaped this report,” said Sen. Albers. “We look forward to turning these recommendations into actionable policies that will keep Georgia safe and at the forefront of technological innovation.”
Photo courtesy Jernej Furman from Slovenia, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
