Ai Environmental Implications

Ai Environmental Concerns:

• The proliferating data centers that house AI servers produce electronic waste.

• They are large consumers of water, which is becoming scarce in many places.

• They rely on critical minerals and rare elements, which are often mined unsustainably.

• They use massive amounts of electricity, spurring the emission of planet-warming greenhouse gases.  

AI Potential Benefits:

Because AI can detect patterns in data, such as anomalies and similarities, and use historic knowledge to accurately predict future outcomes. That could make AI invaluable for monitoring the environment if used for that purpose.

Regulatory Concerns

Some regulatory concerns about artificial intelligence (AI) include:

• Privacy: Unregulated AI can be used for surveillance, misinformation campaigns, and cyberattacks. AI systems often require large amounts of data, which can raise concerns about user consent and data protection. 

• Bias: AI can develop biases that amplify inequalities and harm specific groups. 

• Disinformation: AI can generate and distribute disinformation through fabricated news stories, documents, and "deep fake" images and videos. 

• National security: Unregulated AI can raise national security concerns. 

• Intellectual property: Current intellectual property laws may not be able to handle the legal issues that arise with AI. 

Ai Task Force

The Kentucky Legislature’s Ai task force
11 recommendations from the
2024 Interim Session: 

• Consider legislation that would provide policy standards for the utilization of AI by the state of Kentucky, which would include a framework for decision-making in ethical AI uses, the business cases for use, the approval process for use, disclosures in use, mitigating third-party risks in use and ensuring the data privacy of Kentucky citizens. 

• Urge the federal government to take immediate action on the regulation of AI. 

• Direct Legislative Research Commission staff to provide a definition of artificial intelligence for legislative purposes in Kentucky. 

• Consider legislation that would promote and protect the integrity of Kentucky elections by encouraging the responsible use of AI  as it relates to elections and the electoral process. 

• Encourage the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS), in conjunction with the Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE), to conduct a study into how educational opportunities and efforts relating to AI offered by employers can translate into postsecondary educational achievements and college degrees. 

• Encourage the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General to investigate current health care related regulations to determine whether sufficient guidelines are in place to protect patients from possible HIPAA violations. 

• Encourage the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General to review laws related to individual likeness and continuously collaborate with the General Assembly on any issues resulting from AI advancements. 

• Consider allowing a one-time allocation of funds toward centers that could be used by Kentucky institutions to promote responsible research, developments and advancements in AI. 

• Consider legislation that would promote the responsible use of AI by requiring certain disclosures when communicating with AI chatbots. 

• Encourage all infrastructure providers to develop a long-term AI governance model that ensures the integrity of its data, safeguards proprietary and confidential information, ensures accountability for acceptable use of AI products and creates a framework for best practices that instills ethical and moral guidelines. 

• Encourage the General Assembly to continue its support of policies that ensure utilities in the state of Kentucky possess the adequate generation and infrastructure required to meet increasing energy demands of the Commonwealth.