House committee hears bill to limit state and local use of AI; sponsor open to law‑enforcement carve‑out

Representative Braxton Mitchell, sponsor of House Bill 178 and a member of the Montana House from House District 5 in the Flathead Valley, told the House Judiciary Committee the measure would limit how state and local governments use artificial intelligence, bar certain applications and require human oversight. "Any AI generated recommendation or decision that could affect a person's rights, privileges, or duties must be reviewed by a trained human officer," Mitchell said during the Oct. 12 hearing.

The bill as presented would: prohibit AI uses the sponsor described as behavioral manipulation, unlawful discrimination, malicious actions and inappropriate surveillance; require a disclosure when governments publish AI‑generated content that has not had human review; and mandate that trained human reviewers be able to modify or…