A state senate committee on Wednesday weighed how to regulate state agencies’ use of artificial intelligence (AI) — and asked whether the legislature should do the same for
A state senate committee on Wednesday weighed how to regulate state agencies’ use of artificial intelligence (AI) — and asked whether the legislature should do the same for local governments.
The Senate Committee on Science and Technology took up House Bill 147, which would require state agencies to disclose any use of AI to the Georgia Technology Authority (GTA). The bill, which also provides a legal definition of AI, passed the state House unanimously.
“Artificial intelligence is something that’s not going to go away. It’s going to be interwoven in our society,” the bill’s author, state Rep. Brad Thomas (R-Holly Springs), told the senate committee.
“The problem is we know we have systems that have bias in them, and so we have a responsibility to put guardrails up,” he said about the need for HB 147.
The proposed legislation, which would only apply to state agencies, and not local governments, would codify the Georgia Technology Authority’s existing reporting requirements.
“We are already requiring every executive branch agency — that if they’re using an AI system or tool, they have to be approved by GTA before using it,” said the state tech regulator’s government relations director, Cameron Fash. But right now, he noted, these agency rules aren’t codified into Georgia law.
HB 147 would require state agencies to report to the Georgia Technology Authority:
The bill instructs the Georgia Technology Authority to compile the state agencies’ reports into a report to the governor, lieutenant governor, and state legislature. It would also establish policies and procedures for how state agencies procure and use AI systems.
A related senate bill that was broader in scope, the “AI Accountability Act,” did not make it out of committee before Crossover Day. Senate Bill 37 proposed creating a statewide AI board to issue guidance for both state agencies and local governments, such as counties, cities and school systems. It also would require local governments to publicly report their AI usage.
But senators at the March 12 committee hearing considered incorporating into HB 147 some elements of the unsuccessful senate bill, authored by state Sen. John Albers (R-Roswell) and co-sponsored by five other Republicans and one Democrat, state Sen. Jason Esteves (D-Atlanta).
It would be wise to address local governments’ use of AI, said state Sen. Ed Seltzer (R-Acworth), who chairs the science and technology committee. He then asked whether the legislature should merely require state agencies and, possibly, local governments to disclose their AI use — or also mandate how they use AI?
Seltzer offered the example of an unnamed Georgia city, where public parking garages used a vendor’s AI technology to automatically call police at the sound of gunshots or broken glass. The technology also has a facial recognition capability, but the city opted not to use it, out of privacy concerns, he said.
The state legislature originally tasked the Georgia Technology Authority, created in 2000, with compiling state agencies’ information technology (IT) expenses. Since then, its mandate has expanded to assessing cybersecurity, IT spending, and internet access statewide.
In 2023, the Georgia Technology Authority added an AI Office, which established an AI Advisory Council that has issued AI guidance and ethics principles for state organizations.
Local governments, meanwhile, are just starting to use AI and discuss how to regulate it.
Currently, the city of Atlanta uses AI for social media posts and an AI chatbot for its 311 service. After last summer’s water main breaks, Mayor Andre Dickens announced plans to integrate AI into water-main monitoring. Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is also implementing an AI strategy.
The Atlanta City Council in December established an AI commission to develop potential regulatory legislation by next year. The commission, chaired by Councilmember Amir Farokhi, has yet to meet.
“We are finalizing appointees,” Farokhi said in a text message, adding that he will hand over chair responsibilities to another council member before he resigns his post this summer.
“The commission is intended to look at how the city could better utilize AI, what the guardrails should be, and other considerations for municipal AI integration,” Farokhi said.
For other Georgia cities and counties, the use of AI is still fairly limited. Rusi Patel, general counsel for the Georgia Municipal Association, said city governments are just starting to have conversations about how they should and shouldn’t use AI.
The same is true at the county level, according to the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG). “It hasn’t emerged as a huge issue for our counties, at least as far as them contacting us. Our research on the extent counties are using AI is limited at this time,” said Kaylon Day, an ACCG governmental affairs associate.
But at least one Georgia county, Macon-Bibb, is using AI to determine what pavement repairs to prioritize for 1,200 miles of county-owned roads, according to The Macon Telegraph. That means AI, not human decision-makers, could decide how millions of tax dollars are spent.
The senate committee took no action on the bill on Wednesday. Albers in the state Senate and Thomas, the author of the House bill, aim to revise it and re-introduce a substitute version for further committee debate. The last day of the legislative session is April 4.
