Proposed Illinois Bills Aim to Regulate AI

Federal policy currently favors AI deregulation, but states are taking up AI issues, creating a regulatory patchwork across the U.S. A recent Saul Ewing memo focuses on legislative activity at the Illinois legislature. Twelve AI bills are currently pending, which would regulate AI with new laws related to insurance, education, consumer protection, and employment:

“Evidently, the Illinois legislature has its AI regulation sights primarily set on consumer access to essential services, such as education, employment, finance, and consumer protection. The common themes across these proposed regulations include mandatory consumer disclosures when AI is used, meaningful human review of work performed by AI, ensuring that information fed into AI programs remains private, preventing discrimination by AI, and preventing certain information from being fed into AI programs to begin with.”

Of course, a flurry of proposed laws does not mean any are guaranteed to enter force. However, the legislature’s interest in AI indicates Illinois, along with many other states, is interested in pursuing regulation. The lack of standardization will make compliance difficult. The novel nature of AI means that states may try a variety of approaches to regulation. This patchwork makes a compliance team’s jobs more difficult. Rather than having to know one set of federal regulations, you’ll need to know the laws and regulations of every state in which you operate or have an established presence. Keeping up with state-level activity is key to keeping up with compliance obligations.