More California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed into law an ambitious bill that seeks to govern the deployment and creation of artificial intelligence in the state. Sponsored by Senator Brian Jones, and co-authored by Richard Bloom, the Democratic legislator from Santa Monica, the bill has been passed by both houses of the California Legislature this spring.
The new law sets out the rules for how the development and application of artificial intelligence are monitored and controlled. As an introduction it mandates organizations that design, procures or operates AI systems to undertake and include risk assessments and also employ mitigation measures that will address issues of discrimination and data privacy. The legislation also provides for a state AI advisory board to track progress in the field in order to provide recommendations on legislative measures.
Supporters of the bill point to the fact that it places California in the lead of timely and reasonable regulation of the use of AI. The author of the legislation, State Senator Bill Dodd said, “As artificial intelligence continues to evolve at dizzying speed, it is imperative that society has safety measures installed to welcome the technology while containing the risks that revolve round it”. The law has attracted support from other civil society organizations and some players in the technology industry who understand that legal certainty is crucial in this new form of computing.
However, the measure has been met with opposition from some of the tech firms and industries through industry bodies charging that the regulations are too restrictive and will chase AI development out of the state. Similar fears where voiced by the California Chamber of Commerce saying that the law will “undermine certainty in businesses and halt the state’s development of AI leadership”.
According to the new law, if an organization is employing AI systems to make major choices concerning people, they will be need to convey this information. It also requires that AI systems must be checked for bias and discrimination before releasing to the market and also, put an individual’s right in place to appeal of decision made by such systems that affects him.
Legislation also foresees rights of workers not being unfairly surveilled and made decisions by automated systems at the workplace. This means employers must disclose employment use and designs classifier systems directing workers when such systems are collecting information about the employee, and gives workers a right to appeal major employment decisions made by the classifier system to a human.
Governor Newsom weighing out the question of innovation with the need to protect people’s rights signed the bill in question. As with many things Californian, this law will keep our state on the forefront of technology and reasonable deployment of AI systems,” he noted. “This is what we are doing here – we are leading the rest of the nation in demonstrating that it is possible to have a smart society, where artificial intelligence helps us to be more efficient and effective while at the same time accepting that we need to protect our principles and citizens.”
The law will come into operation starting from January 2025 so that in the meantime; firms will be able to phase themselves to the new regulations. State officials will now start work on developing rules for the legal enforcement and this will involve membership from industry participants, scholars, and civil society organizations.
That is why this new legislation for California has great importance: other states and the federal authorities are already observing the developments. The law might become an example of other norms throughout the country, which would affect the development of AI legislation across the United States. Given that California plays an exceptionally significant role in the growth and development of technology and related issues, what this law portends for the rest of the world as it relates to artificial intelligence shall equally be vast in its anticipation.
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