Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Artificial Intelligence topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate clarifies state law: artificial intelligence not a 'person' amid concerns about unintended consequences
Summary
Senators adopted an amendment to clarify that the statutory term 'person' does not include artificial intelligence, algorithms or machines; supporters said the change protects legal clarity while some senators warned of unintended downstream effects across statutes, but the bill passed (Ayes 26, Nays 6).
The Senate adopted an amendment and passed Senate Bill 837 to explicitly state that the statutory definition of a "person" does not include artificial intelligence, software programs, computer hardware, algorithms or machines.
Sponsor Senator Pote told the chamber that the move is intended to maintain the legal distinction between humans and artificial systems. "Artificial life is artificial... No matter how far, no matter how advanced it gets, we want to make sure there's a distinction between what a person is and what artificial is," he said on the floor.
Several senators expressed concern about broad statutory ripples. Senator Yarborough noted that the word "person" appears across thousands of statutes and that corporations and other nonhuman legal actors are already treated as "persons" in law; he cautioned that a broad redefinition could have unintended consequences for liability and statutory interpretation. The sponsor said the change is meant as a clarification and that the bill is the first step in addressing AI in state law.
Senators adopted the amendment clarifying that AI is not a person and passed the bill; the clerk recorded Ayes 26 and Nays 6.
