TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV/Gray Florida Capital Bureau) – Florida moved closer to becoming one of the first states to guarantee consumer rights against artificial intelligence as lawmakers advanced an AI Bill of Rights during a Wednesday hearing.
Sen. Tom Leek, R-St. Augustine is sponsoring the legislation that would require companies to disclose when people are interacting with AI and limit the sale of personal data to non-identifying information only.
“The folks this bill is trying to protect are too vulnerable to the suggestions of a computer that is pretending to be a human,” Leek said. “We can’t wait to protect them.”
The bill would also require parents to opt in before children can use chatbots and allow parents to monitor their children’s AI interactions.
Several people supported the bill during Wednesday’s hearing, but some raised concerns about unintended consequences.
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“Technically, this can’t be done anonymously. It creates a de facto digital ID system. It’s unavoidable even if the bill avoids that term,” said Julie Barrett, a parent who testified at the hearing.
Florida lawmakers are moving forward despite a federal ban on states regulating AI. President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month saying AI regulations need to be centralized at the federal level.
“Every time you make a change, it could be a very reasonable change, you still won’t have it approved because you have to go to 50 states. This centralizes it,” Trump said.
Leek said the state’s regulations are allowed because they focus on consumers rather than the technology itself.
“I just think we can’t wait on Congress to act,” Leek said.
Leek said there will be changes to tighten definitions before the bill reaches the governor’s desk.
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