The Technology Association of Iowa has launched a new subcommittee dedicated to shaping the future of artificial intelligence policy in Iowa.
Formed under the association’s broader public policy committee, the group will provide expertise, context and recommendations on proposed legislation impacting the state’s ability to lead in emerging technologies.
Comprised of technology executives and government affairs leaders from across Iowa, the AI Policy Subcommittee aims to help the state remain competitive as AI adoption accelerates, according to the technology association.
The Business Record sat down with TAI Vice President of Operations Mollie Ross, who was recently named chair of the US Public Policy Committee for the Technology Councils of North America, to learn more about the subcommittee. Her responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Tell me a little bit about the subcommittee. What is the mission and the vision and the purpose?
The AI subcommittee is a subcommittee of our larger public policy committee that’s been engaged for years now that really helps steer all of our policy. Over the past three years or so, AI is more and more part of the conversation so we established a subcommittee that will be our first line of resources for when legislative proposals are introduced related to AI. For us to be able to share that with them and be our first group to say, ‘This is how this would impact my business. This is what it’s going to really mean day to day.’ And also to help be a resource for our legislators. We’re fortunate that we have a group of legislators who want to learn and are curious and want to engage. So our AI subcommittee is our first group we go to when legislators have questions about the technology. The thing that we try to reinforce is there’s so much potential. And while there’s inherent risk, there’s so much potential already being realized. But also when we look at the conversation around AI, we knew we needed to have a really committed group to help us be that point of resource and be able to act and respond quickly.
So what kind of questions are legislators having about AI?
A lot of it is just, what is this technology and what are these fears that people have? Are they real? Are they legitimate? What can we do about them? What is manageable? What’s realistic? So a lot of the questions are just very big, broad, high-level questions.
What fears do people have?
We hear a lot of fears about what is this technology going to take – my job? Is it taking over the world? Just big, scary headline-grabbing news. And that’s where having this subcommittee is really impactful, because these are technology executives from across the state who are using this technology now, who can really dispel some of that fear and help make it real for people and help them understand what the technology is and how it’s being developed. It’s not going to take your job. And I think, also helping understand that jobs may look different, but there’s so much opportunity here for Iowans, and hopefully to make those jobs more meaningful, more beneficial for Iowans. If we can stay ahead of the curve and help educate individuals, help educate our state and our students, then they’ll be ready to take those new jobs into the future. There’s always a human in the line. Human in the middle is what we talk about a lot. There’s humans programming, and while AI makes a lot of business processes more efficient, there’s always a human involved.
Who’s on the committee?
It’s made up of technology executives from across the state and representing nearly every industry in our state, from manufacturing and ag, to health care and finance, so that we can have that broader view of AI and industry in Iowa. There are also some government relations professionals who can meet in the middle of the individuals who understand written legislation, and individuals who understand technology. They can come together and work through what proposals mean.
Has there been any legislation introduced in Iowa about AI?
There was an elections bill this year that was proposed, and it was pretty specific to elections and campaign content that was generated or edited using artificial intelligence. It’s pretty niche to a specific use case, but that’s something that we take a look at. Our committee reviewed, and they were reviewing, in that case, specifically, some of the definitions that were being used in terminology. There was a proposal introduced as well that was a much broader AI bill from Rep. Ray Sorensen, but that was a bill that we worked really closely with him on and also did not move. There’s been a lot of ideas thrown out and a lot of conversation had, I believe those are the two that were introduced.
What was Rep. Sorensen’s bill? What did that one do?
It was a much broader bill focused on high-risk decision-making by AI models, and putting some regulation around any use case which it defined as high-risk decision-making. In those cases, there was a lot of regulation around reporting requirements. We’re really fortunate here in Iowa that our representatives, all of our lawmakers, representatives and senators, are open and want to learn. So he was very open that he’s interested in talking about AI, and that was a really good conversation piece.
Does TAI support AI being defined in Iowa code?
In order to write a meaningful law, you have to be really specific about what it is, because, again, that’s where I think, even with the best intentions, you can get into trouble if the definition is not specific enough, in causing those unintended consequences.
Is anyone doing a great job regulating AI or providing opportunities for AI?
I think the best use cases are when it can be really specific, not trying to take a big, broad brush to every industry and every use case, but identify potential use cases and get specific about that. Finding opportunities is the other thing that we look at a lot is ensuring that we’re not hamstringing industry and their uses of artificial intelligence, because we want Iowa to be the remaining leader in technology and innovation, so our companies need to be able to continue to innovate and leverage this technology.
Is there anything else you want to add?
I think when we look at AI policy in Iowa, artificial intelligence has been around for a long time, it’s not going anywhere. But we also see how much value and opportunity there is for our entire state to be competitive, both industry and as individuals. We want all Iowans to have access to the technology. We want Iowa to be the best state for technology and innovation in the Midwest, and we really believe that that’s possible, but ensuring that both consumers and companies are able to continue to innovate and develop and grow and learn. So we think about AI policy, how do we encourage and ensure that we can continue to grow?
Ross said leaders who are interested in learning more about the subcommittee can reach out to her at mollie@technologyiowa.org.