PALATKA, Fla. — A new executive order signed by President Donald Trump has put the White House and the Florida Governor’s Mansion at odds.
The impending fight will likely determine the future of how artificial intelligence can be regulated well into the future.
Last week, Governor Ron DeSantis announced he’ll be pushing for lawmakers to pass an AI Bill of Rights in the upcoming session.
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The plan calls for AI platforms to institute protections for children and consumers.
It also limits how AI can be used by the insurance industry and prohibits AI chatbots from offering mental health services.
“We have a responsibility to make sure that we’re creating sufficient guardrails so that this stuff isn’t hurting our kids, our families, our businesses,” said DeSantis.
But one week later, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that seeks to stifle state efforts to regulate the industry.
“When we’re talking about allowing companies and people to innovate, there needs to be just one set of rules,” said Dr. Patrick Dicks.
Dr. Dicks is an expert on artificial intelligence.
He argued that with the competition between the US and adversaries like China racing for AI dominance, a patchwork of conflicting state laws would only serve to hamper the industry in the US.
“Let’s just think about it, if you were to take 12 to 18 months off from the advancements right now, this could possibly put us back 10 to 15 years,” said Dicks.
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State Representative Dean Black (R-Yulee) argued despite the potential for a fight between Tallahassee and the White House, state lawmakers should still push forward with protections this year.
“We want humans in charge of humanity,” said Black.
He argued with no true nationwide regulations likely to come out of Congress anytime soon, states need to step up now.
“We can do that now while we wait for the executive branch and the legislative branch at the federal level to catch up,” said Black.
The Governor has not specifically committed to take on the Trump administration over the AI issue at this point, but has made several statements criticizing the federal government limiting states’ ability to act in this space in recent weeks.
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