A terrible threat. An unprecedented opportunity. It varies depending on the speed of the microprocessor. All over the country, and here in Charleston, that’s how experts are talking about the rapid emergence of artificial intelligence, or AI.
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They say they are technical breakthroughs that have deployed generative AI chatbots such as ChatGpt, Claude and Gemini in the hands of people and businesses around the world over the past three years.
But in sensational headlines and breathtaking predictions to prepare for something, the ultra-gut intelligent machines, governments, businesses, and even everyday citizens. Even experts have a hard time saying exactly what they say.
As Charleston City Paper learned in a recent series of interviews, the Digital Ports of Lowcountry and South Carolina are no exception.
Charlestons work to understand and prepare
While government officials work to develop reasonable policies in Washington and Columbia, business owners, experts and academics in the Charleston area have already navigated the real impact of AI.
Mount Pleasant Attorney and Digital Forensic Examiner Steve Abrams told the city’s paper that AI is already restructuring its daily legal work.
“It basically does what the clerk does,” Abrams said. “If you have practice using a system large enough to support a law clerk, you can send it to a legal memorandum for a few days, where the AI tool does it in about five minutes.”
But the ongoing issue of AI’s “Hansilation” – simply put, the made fact that popular chatbots sometimes invent from fabric, Abrams pointed out that it’s not a solution to “set it and forget it.” Attorneys should carefully review all AI-generated documents they plan to present.
Not too excited about the technology is former City Paper photographer Jonathan Boncek, who is watching the rise of AI with concerns about freelance businesses.
“My client might not want to spend money on me when I can do generative fillings of AI,” Boncek says. “It’s not big yet, but I understand how AI really understands how quickly it (it works).
That’s why Boncek said he became a certified rapid transformation therapist.
“I moved to a space where AI wouldn’t be able to touch, a space of human interaction and mental health,” Boncek says. “I don’t think AI can help mental health.”
On the academic side, Ian Obirn, an associate professor of literacy education at the University of Charleston, said he encourages students to use AI as a “cognitive amplifier” for tasks such as organizing works and organizing the most important parts of the lecture.
“Our students are busy and they do a lot in their lives,” he said. “If I can do anything to help them a little, I will.”
Regarding academic research, some have raised concerns about technology, such as recent MIT research, which shows that using ChatGPT significantly reduces brain activity.
“We’re already beginning to see ‘AI’m making fun of us?’ The debate comes – this should be ignored,” he said. “We fought that fight 20 years ago when Google was (and it was said) to us.”
Statewide Strategy: Opportunities with Guardrails
At the March 24th AI event, Beaufort County Republican Rep. Jeff Bradley, sponsored by the Nonprofit Council on Competitiveness, is chair of the House Regulation, Administrative Procedures, Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity Committee, spoke about the state’s efforts to acquire government, business and educational institutions that will withdraw in the same direction with AI.
“This collaboration marks a pivotal moment in our state’s technological advancement,” Bradley told attendees. “By leveraging our research institutes and promoting interdisciplinary collaboration, we can drive innovation in applied AI, train a competitive AI workforce, and keep South Carolina in AI preparation.”
The efforts produced the first concrete results when the SC Bureau (Admin) announced its AI strategy in March 2024. It aims to promote and responsibly regulate the use of AI in the provision of state government services.
At the time, administrator spokesman Brooke Bailey told City Paper that it would become an agency’s goal as safety rather than speed moves forward. This week, she said that administrators are currently tracking 29 proposed use cases for AI from various agencies.
“Admins will review each use case for security, risk, potential benefits and efficiency and will continue to work with the agency in implementing approved use cases,” Bailey said.
Additionally, the agency says it has established a centre of excellence to use AI to provide monitoring and governance to state agencies, using subgroups focused on risk, compliance and procurement.
“In addition, the agency is about to launch a statewide pilot program, for the co-pilot between ChatGpt and Microsoft,” she said.
Legislative Initiative: People to Protect Progress
Lawmakers say the focus is on early AI laws on maintaining business and consumer friendly South Carolina.
In particular, he cited the importance of recent laws in a social media post in May to protect minors from AI-responsive abuse.
“I signed two bills and signed a law that counters the creation, possession and distribution of AI-generated child sexual abuse material,” McMaster said. “These laws provide prosecutors with the tools they need to pursue predators who use their technology to injure and exploit children.”
Protecting people from the risks of AI will be a top priority for the SC House AI Regulation Subcommittee when it opens next year’s meeting, according to R-York Chairman Brandon Guffy. In 2022, Guffy lost her 17-year-old son to suicide after being victimized by an online predator scam.
“The last thing we want to do is to reduce innovation,” Guffy said in an interview on June 18th. “But we need to respond quickly (to new developments) to protect people.”
That’s why he said he’s been looking carefully at proposed federal laws that would prevent states from regulating AI for the next decade.
“I don’t think the federal government has the right to say that we cannot protect our citizens,” he said. “But if the goal is to ensure that the state does not suppress certain industries, then yeah, I would agree that the state should not have that right.”
Looking forward to 2026, Guffey said he wanted to start with a bill aimed at preventing businesses from using AI to exploit people’s personal information and likeness.
“One of my main goals is to make sure people aren’t profiting from your voice or image just because AI is (generated),” he said.
Beyond that, he said he wanted to see a change in the way AI is understood and regulated.
“Ultimately, if we start looking at the technology and the tech industry as products instead of services, we believe that many of these things can be handled through (existing) consumer protection laws,” he said.
Charleston: “The big role of playing”
Back in Lowcountry, attorney Steve Britt, general counsel for the National Institute of Artificial Intelligence, says Charleston’s technical leader is already ahead of the game when it comes to integrating AI into the business.
“Charleston has a big role to play, and I think they’re getting closer to that in the right way,” he told the city’s paper in an interview last week.
But like Guffy, he is worried about his efforts to preempt state law at the federal level.
“That’s not a very elegant solution and it’ll be very difficult for Congress to enact,” Britt said. “I hope they will move on to federal laws on data privacy and AI (instead).”
Meanwhile, Obillund University in Charleston is also worried about overreactions.
“It feels like we’re falling into this trap of exaggeration and hysteria,” he said this week. “And I think a lot of times people don’t even understand what AI is.”
Every day, and on all levels, South Carolinians work to close the gap in their understanding of AI. And maybe in the process, ground the conversation a little bit more and not let it get you breathless.
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