As soon as Colorado’s state legislature again condemned AI during a special session this summer, there was a Homer Simpson-worthy “Doh!” It could have spread throughout the state.
It would have been an acknowledgment that, for the time being, lawmakers ignored making Colorado a more welcoming destination for rapidly expanding technology developments. We are rapidly falling behind.
Don’t just take our word for it. Consider input from a panel of national experts who participated in last week’s site selection meeting hosted by the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and arranged by the Chamber’s Economic Development Corporation.
Among their obstacles to Colorado’s ability to attract widespread investment, The Gazette reported, is the state’s regulatory pipeline for gaining approval for artificial intelligence-related projects.
Lawmakers had been called to the August legislative session by Gov. Jared Polis in part to review the sweeping overreach of the 2024 law to regulate artificial intelligence. These AI regulations were so poorly thought out that even Polis, who signed the effort into law, publicly announced reconsiderations just weeks later. He gave a belated but correct response to the technology industry’s concerns that heavy-handed laws would stifle the development and use of artificial intelligence in a burgeoning number of applications.
The 2024 law doesn’t take effect until February 1 of next year, so lawmakers spent the entirety of last spring’s regular session working on the amendment. However, no progress had been made by the end of the session in May.
So this is a special session. But a powerful faction of the ruling Democratic Party went after the 2024 law to defend its reckless liability provisions. He blocked any compromise that might come to fruition.
So lawmakers simply postponed implementation until June next year. This will help you move forward towards your next regular session. But given their track record, we wouldn’t expect much.
Mr. Polis is reconvening a group of tech companies and consumer advocates to try to come up with a new set of state regulatory compromises that everyone will likely live with. We don’t have high hopes for that initiative either.
And the problem is that even though it hasn’t taken effect yet, the current law remains on the books, meaning the capital the tech sector is pouring into proliferating AI applications will flow to other states.
Congress’s obsession with “fairness” and fear that AI technology will inevitably lead to discrimination against various consumers has led to legislation on the issue wagging its tail. That’s why they are resisting changes to the current, unworkable laws.
A central issue with the 2024 Act is its focus on combating “algorithmic discrimination.” It sets unachievable standards for the development and use of AI-driven software, and only succeeds in deviating from those standards, suppressing the technology, and displacing AI innovators to less repressive states. A recently released economic analysis by Colorado’s Common Sense Institute says the law “could impose severe economic costs on the state if enacted.”
Lawmakers, including Polis himself, also appear to be balking so far at calls to stay completely out of the picture and wait for Congress to pass a national standard. That would avoid the 50-state patchwork of AI regulations and untie Colorado.
But AI investors and developers aren’t just waiting for lawmakers to poke their heads out of the sand.
For now, Colorado policymakers would do well to set aside any attempts at further regulation at the state level and wait for a federal framework from Congress. It could level the playing field for technology to flourish and achieve its projected potential, including in Colorado.
