HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania State lawmakers began their first attempts at regulating artificial intelligence on Wednesday.
The State House passed House Bill 1598, which amends the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law. The legislation would require disclosure of all AI-generated content for consumer goods.
Democratic State Representative Chris Pielli, who was the bill's main sponsor, said the law puts common sense guardrails up for Pennsylvanians.
“This bill is simple," said Rep. Pielli (D-Chester County). "If there’s AI during consumer purchases and transactions, then it has to say it’s AI.”
The PA Chamber of Business and Industry has come out against HB 1598. The group argues the law is too broad in its scope, not allowing for regular and deceptive AI to be differentiated. They also say the bill would expose Pennsylvania businesses to liability lawsuits.
“To say when artificial intelligence is used, whether it’s deceptive or not, and it violates the law if it’s not disclosed, we think it goes too far," said Neal Lesher, the director of government affairs with the PA Chamber.
Dr. Kevin Percell, a data science professor at Harrisburg University, said it will be a challenge for state lawmakers to define and regulate a technology that is rapidly evolving.
“We have to figure out how do we define and create guardrails on what we need to worry about because AI is touching lots of different areas," said Dr. Percell. "It will be difficult to implement a solution like this.”
Representative Pielli said his bill is not an anti-AI law, rather a piece of legislation will protect consumers as AI continues to grow.
“This law will grow with the technology, just like any new technology we’ve ever had," said Rep. Pielli.
House Bill 1598 passed with wide bipartisan support, 146-54. Every House Democrat voted in favor, while House Republicans were split on the bill.
FOX43 reached out to Senate GOP leaders to get a pulse on which way the caucus wants to vote on the bill. Senator Scott Martin's office emailed that he had no comment at this time.