Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

An AI Spark Worth Spreading

An AI Spark Worth Spreading

People working with AI technology.

Getty Images, Maskot

In the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, policymakers face a delicate balancing act: fostering innovation while addressing legitimate concerns about AI's potential impacts. Representative Michael Keaton’s proposed HB 1833, also known as the Spark Act, represents a refreshing approach to this challenge—one that Washington legislators would be right to pass and other states would be wise to consider.

As the AI Innovation and Law Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, I find the Spark Act particularly promising. By establishing a grant program through the Department of Commerce to promote innovative uses of AI, Washington's legislators have a chance to act on a fundamental truth: technological diffusion is essential to a dynamic economy, widespread access to opportunity, and the inspiration of future innovation.


The history of technological advancement in America reveals a consistent pattern. When new technologies remain concentrated in the hands of a few, their economic and social benefits remain similarly concentrated. On the other hand, when technological tools become widely available—as happened with personal computers in the 1980s or internet access in the 1990s on through today (though too many remain on the wrong side of the digital divide)—we witness explosive growth in unexpected innovations and broader economic participation.

HB 1833 wisely prioritizes several key elements that deserve particular commendation. The bill's emphasis on ethical AI use, risk analysis, small business participation, and statewide impact reflects a nuanced understanding of how to foster responsible innovation. By requiring applicants to share their technology with the state and demonstrate a clear public benefit, the program ensures that taxpayer investments yield broader societal returns.

The involvement of Washington's AI task force in identifying state priorities further strengthens the approach. This collaborative model between government, industry, and presumably academia creates a framework for ongoing dialogue about AI development—a far more productive approach than imposing rigid restrictions based on speculative concerns.

While regulatory frameworks for AI are necessary and inevitable, premature or excessive regulation risks several negative consequences. First, burdensome compliance costs disproportionately impact startups and smaller labs, potentially cementing the dominance of tech giants who can easily absorb these expenses. This would ironically undermine the competitive marketplace that effective regulation aims to protect.

Second, regulatory approaches that begin from a place of suspicion rather than a balanced assessment may perpetuate unfounded negative perceptions of AI. Public discourse already tends toward dystopian narratives that overshadow AI's transformative potential in healthcare, environmental protection, education, and accessibility. Policy should be informed by a complete picture—acknowledging risks while recognizing benefits.

Washington's approach appears to recognize what history has repeatedly demonstrated: innovation rarely follows predictable paths. The personal computer, the internet, and smartphones all produced applications and implications that their early developers could never have anticipated. By creating space for experimentation while establishing guardrails around ethical use and risk assessment, the Spark Act creates a framework for responsible innovation.

Other states considering AI policy would do well to study Washington's example. Rather than racing to implement restrictive regulations that may quickly become obsolete or counterproductive, states can establish programs that simultaneously promote innovation while gathering the practical experience necessary to inform more targeted regulation where truly needed.

The technological transformation unfolding before us holds tremendous promise for addressing long-standing societal challenges—but only if we resist the urge to stifle it before it has the chance to develop. Washington's legislators deserve recognition for charting a path that neither ignores legitimate concerns nor sacrifices the potential benefits of AI advancement.

In the coming years, the states that thrive economically will likely be those that find this balance—creating frameworks that promote responsible AI innovation while ensuring its benefits are widely shared. The Spark Act represents a promising step in that direction, one that merits both our attention and our support. The Senate should follow the House's lead in passing this important piece of legislation.

Kevin Frazier is an AI Innovation and Law Fellow at Texas Law and Author of the Appleseed AI substack.

Read More

Entertainment Can Improve How Democrats and Republicans See Each Other

Since the development of American mass media culture in the mid-20th century, numerous examples of entertainment media have tried to improve attitudes towards those who have traditionally held little power.

Getty Images, skynesher

Entertainment Can Improve How Democrats and Republicans See Each Other

Entertainment has been used for decades to improve attitudes toward other groups, both in the U.S. and abroad. One can think of movies like Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, helping change attitudes toward Black Americans, or TV shows like Rosanne, helping humanize the White working class. Efforts internationally show that media can sometimes improve attitudes toward two groups concurrently.

Substantial research shows that Americans now hold overly negative views of those across the political spectrum. Let's now learn from decades of experience using entertainment to improve attitudes of those in other groups—but also from counter-examples that have reinforced stereotypes and whose techniques should generally be avoided—in order to improve attitudes toward fellow Americans across politics. This entertainment can allow Americans across the political spectrum to have more accurate views of each other while realizing that successful cross-ideological friendships and collaborations are possible.

Keep ReadingShow less
Congress Must Not Undermine State Efforts To Regulate AI Harms to Children
Congress Must Not Undermine State Efforts To Regulate AI Harms to Children
Getty Images, Dmytro Betsenko

Congress Must Not Undermine State Efforts To Regulate AI Harms to Children

A cornerstone of conservative philosophy is that policy decisions should generally be left to the states. Apparently, this does not apply when the topic is artificial intelligence (AI).

In the name of promoting innovation, and at the urging of the tech industry, Congress quietly included in a 1,000-page bill a single sentence that has the power to undermine efforts to protect against the dangers of unfettered AI development. The sentence imposes a ten-year ban on state regulation of AI, including prohibiting the enforcement of laws already on the books. This brazen approach crossed the line even for conservative U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who remarked, “We have no idea what AI will be capable of in the next 10 years, and giving it free rein and tying states' hands is potentially dangerous.” She’s right. And it is especially dangerous for children.

Keep ReadingShow less
Microphones, podcast set up, podcast studio.

Many people inside and outside of the podcasting world are working to use the medium as a way to promote democracy and civic engagement.

Getty Images, Sergey Mironov

Ben Rhodes on How Podcasts Can Strengthen Democracy

After the 2024 election was deemed the “podcast election,” many people inside and outside of the podcasting world were left wondering how to capitalize on the medium as a way to promote democracy and civic engagement to audiences who are either burned out by or distrustful of traditional or mainstream news sources.

The Democracy Group podcast network has been working through this question since its founding in 2020—long before presidential candidates appeared on some of the most popular podcasts to appeal to specific demographics. Our members recently met in Washington, D.C., for our first convening to learn from each other and from high-profile podcasters like Jessica Tarlov, host of Raging Moderates, and Ben Rhodes, host of Pod Save the World.

Keep ReadingShow less
True Confessions of an AI Flip Flopper
Ai technology, Artificial Intelligence. man using technology smart robot AI, artificial intelligence by enter command prompt for generates something, Futuristic technology transformation.
Getty Images - stock photo

True Confessions of an AI Flip Flopper

A few years ago, I would have agreed with the argument that the most important AI regulatory issue is mitigating the low probability of catastrophic risks. Today, I’d think nearly the opposite. My primary concern is that we will fail to realize the already feasible and significant benefits of AI. What changed and why do I think my own evolution matters?

Discussion of my personal path from a more “safety” oriented perspective to one that some would label as an “accelerationist” view isn’t important because I, Kevin Frazier, have altered my views. The point of walking through my pivot is instead valuable because it may help those unsure of how to think about these critical issues navigate a complex and, increasingly, heated debate. By sharing my own change in thought, I hope others will feel welcomed to do two things: first, reject unproductive, static labels that are misaligned with a dynamic technology; and, second, adjust their own views in light of the wide variety of shifting variables at play when it comes to AI regulation. More generally, I believe that calling myself out for a so-called “flip-flop” may give others more leeway to do so without feeling like they’ve committed some wrong.

Keep ReadingShow less