More than 1,500 bills that have an artificial intelligence (AI) nexus sit in America’s laboratories of democracy, where many heavy-handed proposals are becoming law. A new report from the American Consumer Institute (ACI) and R Street ranks those threats—by category—into what we call “The AI Terrible Ten,” or the most problematic AI-focused ideas being considered in America today. More worrying than the volume of bills is that the worst ideas are proving contagious and spreading rapidly.
As AI panic spreads, many politicians are already experiencing the early-stages of “buyer’s remorse,” symptoms of which will increase over time as unintended consequences grow. As fear-based regulation metastasizes into similar ideas in other states, it will undermine the nation’s once coherent, pro-innovation technology framework. If this panic is not contained, it will worsen the patchwork of confusing and costly mandates already mounting, diminishing America’s influence in the globally important AI sector.
Adam Thierer is a Senior Fellow for Technology and Innovation at the R Street Institute. Logan Kolas is the Director of Technology Policy at the American Consumer Institute. Follow Logan on X @Logan_Kolas