Politics and Policymaking in State-Level AI Governance

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

AI is in fast expansion, and its effects, challenges, and opportunities are becoming increasingly apparent across various dimensions of life. While some countries have taken a national approach to deal with emerging challenges associated with AI, in the United States, regulations at the Federal level have been absent. In response, states have stepped up and proposed and enacted several responses. Across the papers in this panel, these responses are examined across different areas, ranging from AI’s impacts on elections, data privacy, to analyses of how state policies spread across state borders. The first paper, by Jeongmin Oh and colleagues, adopts a qualitative methodological approach to explore variation in statewide responses to synthetic media, impersonation, and misleading election information in the context of elections. They reveal a fragmented and diverse AI governance structure across the country. The second paper also investigates variations in state responses to AI-posed challenges. Specifically, Nicholas Croce and co-authors focus on state data privacy law, namely those regulating how personal data is to be protected and managed in a responsible manner. They do so by systematically classifying the twenty personal data protection statutes that have been enacted across the states and show that, beyond surface uniformity, there are crucial differences that may affect accountability, enforcement, and responsibility. Finally, Bhargavi Ganesh proposes a quantitative analysis of policy diffusion of AI regulation across states, uncovering common themes that diffuse, and the roles of party alignment, proximity, as well as the impact of tech lobbying efforts on bill introduction and diffusion. Given the fragmented AI governance structure that has emerged in the United States and how recent these developments have been, this panel brings clarity on what these emerging structures look like, and provides important insights for research, policy, and practice. Collectively, the papers also contribute to an emerging area of research focused on AI-specific regulatory responses.

Policy Area

• Politics, Media, and the Policy Process

Chair

• Luisa Nazareno, Virginia Commonwealth University

Discussant

• Emily Boykin, Augusta University

Organizer

• Luisa Nazareno, Virginia Commonwealth University

Individual Presentations

• State Responses to AI-Driven Election Misinformation: Governing Election Integrity in the United States - Presenting Author: Jeongmin Oh, Hanyang University

• State Data Privacy Laws: Crises and Policy Features - Presenting Author: Nicholas Croce, University of Pittsburgh; Non-Presenting Co-Author: Saba Siddiki, Syracuse University; Non-Presenting Co-Author: Begoña Gonzalez Otero, The GovLab

• The new 'diffusion' models? Tracing AI policy diffusion across all 50 states - Presenting Author: Bhargavi Ganesh, University of Pennsylvania

• Need or Ideology? Variation in U.S. State AI Policy Design - Presenting Author: Jiahui Zhang, Harbin Institute of Technology; Non-Presenting Co-Author: Tao Hong, Harbin Institute of Technology; Non-Presenting Co-Author: Zitong Tang, Northwest University of Political Science and Law