Fri. Nov 1st, 2024

Daniel Urquhart, chair of Alabama’s AI task force announces on Oct. 31, 2024 in Montgomery that a draft of recommendations for state government use of AI is ready for review. (Alander Rocha/Alabama Reflector)

The chair of a state task force charged with regulating the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in state government said Thursday that a draft report on recommendations is ready for review. 

“I think we’ve really came up with some good ideas and have some good recommendations for the governor’s office at the end of November,” Daniel Urquhart, secretary of the Alabama Office of Information Technology, said at a meeting of the Alabama Generative AI Task Force.

Generative AI, or GenAI, is a type of artificial intelligence that can create new content, such as text, images or audio.

The task force has been working with various subcommittees to address issues ranging from data management to ethical use as Alabama seeks to establish standards across state systems.

During the meeting, representatives from each working group outlined the main components of their recommendations for the final report that will be presented to the governor’s office in late November. Among the top priorities highlighted was a focus on data management. The task force recommended protocols to ensure that AI applications respect data ownership and privacy standards.

“This doesn’t change a whole lot from more normal practices of data management, but some of the recommendations will be to implement good encryption and access controls,” said Aaron Wright, director of application development at Alabama Office of Information Technology.

The draft report will be circulated to all task force members for final feedback this week, with an anticipated submission to the governor’s office by the end of November.

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