Washington AI task force: Committee to manage evolving risks, benefits of AI

OLYMPIA, Wash. - The Washington State Legislature on Tuesday approved an ‘Artificial Intelligence Task Force’ to discuss the developments, benefits and risks of AI.

Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson drafted a proposal to create such a task force, and lawmakers adopted it in a 30-19 vote. As AI increasingly becomes more prevalent in people's lives, its enormous utility can be applied to things like wildfire detection, exploring fixes to traffic congestion, communicating with animals, curbing gun violence and improving learning in school.

With enormous utility also comes enormous risks — AI deepfakes, child abuse, voice scams, plagiarizing the work of artists and authors, and more.

Legislators hope the task force can get ahead of the curve, or at least keep up with AI developments.

"AI is becoming a part of our daily lives, and it’s our duty to immediately begin working in a thoughtful way to ensure we protect Washingtonians against this technology’s risks while maximizing its benefits," said AG Ferguson. "I appreciate the Legislature’s partnership, and I look forward to launching an inclusive task force that will develop recommendations to guide public policy in this important arena."

A 19-member executive committee of tech experts, industry reps, labor groups, civil liberty groups and lawmakers will convene at least twice a year to review policies, identify emergent risks and provide recommendations moving forward.

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"AI is like fire — it has tremendous potential to do both good and bad," said Sen. Nguyen. "How we use it and the data we put into it is incredibly important. This task force will be important for learning about the right legislative response to the explosion in AI tools and is a great step forward to smart, effective use of AI for the people of Washington."

The AG's Office notes AI, specifically generative AI tools like ChatGPT, are among the fastest-growing consumer internet applications today. According to a recent survey cited by the AGO, 79% of North Americans reported at least some exposure to generative AI, 41% say they use it regularly, and 22% say they use it regularly at work.