How states are making their own rules for AI

States across the country are forging ahead with their own rules for AI procurement and use in an effort to boost government efficiency and improve public services. With Congress stalled on comprehensive AI legislation, several states are providing early examples of how governments can use the technology at scale. A sampling of state AI moves across the country:

• Vermont: Human-centered AI is the core of Vermont's approach, said Denise Reilly-Hughes, state CIO and secretary of the Vermont Agency of Digital Services. Vermont's AI Commission created a code of ethics that guides how state employees use the technology in their work.

• New Jersey: Dave Cole, the state's chief innovation officer, said that it's been full speed ahead on generative AI since 2023, when Gov. Phil Murphy issued an executive order charging the state government with finding ways it can improve services for residents and boost the economy.

• North Dakota: It's early days for AI experimentation in North Dakota, and that's partly due to the state's every-other-year legislature schedule and a lack of new funding specifically for AI implementation, said Corey Mock, the state's CIO.