“We want to use AI for good,” Maroney said. “We’re trying to incentivize good behaviors. … Unfortunately, this isn’t the last AI bill we are going to do.”

Citing a poll, he said that only 10% of those surveyed were excited and positive about AI as opposed to being concerned.

Among various aspects in the multifaceted bill, the measure would regulate AI algorithms that are already in use, unbeknownst to some consumers, in issues like generating a person’s credit score and health care data.

The state economic development department will be directed to oversee competitive grants for use in courthouses, prisons, schools, hospitals, fire departments, and nonprofits.

Senate majority leader Bob Duff, a Norwalk Democrat, said that Maroney is gaining a reputation for his deep knowledge of AI and has been a speaker at major conferences on the issue.

“He is the E.F. Hutton of AI,” Duff said of Maroney. “When he speaks, listen to what Senator Maroney has to say about it. … Nobody can put that genie back in the bottle. We should embrace AI.”

Sen. John Kissel of Enfield, the longest-serving Senate Republican, said he would vote against the measure and called upon Lamont to veto the measure if it reaches his desk.

“This is a bad bill for Connecticut, and it’s a bad bill for business in Connecticut,” Kissel said on the Senate floor. “When we talk about artificial intelligence, let’s not get scared about that. … Yes, it’s moving fast, but we shouldn’t freak out about it. … There’s no rush on this.”

In a stentorian stemwinder citing Sir Isaac Newton, gravity, calculus, geometry, data privacy, trains, online gambling, homelessness, aerospace, and Buffalo Wild Wings, Kissel said, “We’re just talking about computer programs.”

Like Kissel, state Sen. Lisa Seminara of Avon questioned the impact and voted against the bill.

...continued