State Sen. James Maroney, D-Milford, introduced legislation last year to regulate artificial intelligence that ultimately died when Gov. Ned Lamont signaled his dissent over concerns that Connecticut would legislate the issue differently than other states as the issue becomes more salient nationally.
Maroney said he believes this year can be different though after leading a consortium with representatives from 47 state legislatures last year.
"I think we're in a different place from last year; the governor didn't want to be the first or the tip of the spear," he said.
Last June, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a comprehensive artificial intelligence regulation bill. Maroney said other states have adopted bills with smaller pieces of the Colorado bill and the bill proposed in Connecticut.
"I'm in close touch with Sen. (Robert) Rodriguez who passed this bill in Colorado and keeping abreast of what's going on with Colorado so we can make changes with our bill here," he said. "But our goal is to stay as close as possible to the Colorado bill."
According to an overview of the Colorado bill that Maroney seeks to emulate, the law requires algorithm developers to disclose information demonstrating they took reasonable care to protect from discrimination. This can include providing a statement about the information used to train the model and a risk management policy, as well as making consumers aware they are interacting with an artificial intelligence model.
Maroney said one challenge of artificial intelligence algorithms is when they are deployed for things, such as approving housing and hiring, since they are only as good as the models they're trained on, which may include discriminatory biases.
He said other state legislatures in the nation are aware of these same issues and several are interested in laws that require artificial intelligence system developers to disclose information about data and risk management.
"We have been doing our best in the absence of federal legislation, which I think is highly unlikely, to work across the states," he said. "I think we will see a similar number of bills in other states."
During the last session, Maroney incorporated feedback that anticipated industry opposition into the bill. Maroney said the version of the bill that he plans to introduce this month after the legislative session begins on Wednesday will regulate artificial intelligence, but also promote and empower its industry uses.
"We want to look at how do we grow artificial intelligence business in Connecticut, looking at the workforce," he said. "Last year we proposed a Connecticut online AI academy, which Charter Oak State College is in the process of doing. We want to look at expanding our outreach to make sure we are getting people artificial intelligence training and training courses."
Maroney said it's "likely" that the 2025 legislative proposal would include industry partners by establishing a fellowship for an expert to develop pilot programs; the Connecticut Academy for Scientists and Engineers would aid in hiring that fellow. He said it's also likely that a task force or council will form to "continue the conversation" on artificial intelligence regulation, growth and promotion.
"It's important that government, industry and academia are working together," he said.
© 2025 The Hour (Norwalk, Conn.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
