A committee of Georgia lawmakers is addressing the sensitive issues surrounding artificial intelligence.

Last week, the Georgia Senate Committee on AI met for the first time. The group is made up of state senators and experts from academia and the corporate world.

The committee is chaired by Senator John Albers, a Republican from Roswell.

“These are the things that evolve, and one reason we often have to change the laws is because they were created in a different time and day and these things didn't exist yet,” Albers said, recalling that one of the first bills he worked on as a new lawmaker removed the word “telegraph” from parts of the Georgia Code.

During the meeting, Senate staff told committee members that the first step to regulating AI in Georgia should be passing privacy regulations. About 18 states have comprehensive privacy laws. In Georgia, a privacy bill was introduced in 2022 but has not been implemented.

Only one state, Colorado, has attempted to regulate AI. Its law is quite narrow and targets the use of AI in decision-making in areas such as credit applications and employment.

This article appears on Now Habersham in collaboration with WUGA