CFA and the Electronic Privacy Information Center led a coalition of CASH Campaign of Maryland, Center for Democracy & Technology, Consumer Reports, Data & Society, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Fight for the Future, and TechEquity Action in urging the Maryland Senate Finance Committee to change the makeup of a proposed “AI Working Group.” Despite actual regulation being long overdue, a bill to establish a working group to study AI in the state is moving through the legislature.

As currently written, the workgroup is made up almost entirely of industry and business representatives. Because it lacks civil society and expert academic voices, the working group outlined in this bill would be unable to do critical analysis of the needs of Marylanders, and we fear there would be an insurmountable bias toward regulation that benefits companies instead of protecting Marylanders.

The use of AI impacts Marylanders throughout their daily lives, and the makeup of the workgroup must reflect that. Workgroup and task force bills on AI throughout the country, including New York, Vermont, Connecticut, Colorado, and more, recognize this need for balanced stakeholder involvement by including ACLU, AFL-CIO, academic, and other public interest representatives explicitly in their workgroups. Adding representatives from labor, civil rights, consumer protection, and privacy organizations will ensure there are voices focused on protecting Marylanders’ rights involved in important discussions about the future of AI in the state.

Specifically, we offer the following recommendations for makeup of the workgroup:

• • Recommendation 1: Reduce the number of representatives from each category listed in (B)(5) of the bill by one representative, and add an equal number of public interest representatives, including:
    • Two representatives from non-profit organizations focusing on data privacy;
    • Two representatives from labor unions operating in the state;
    • Two representatives from non-profit organizations focusing on civil rights and liberties;
    • Two representatives from non-profit organizations focused on consumer protection;
    • Two members of academic faculty from the state that are experts in the development, operation of, and social implications of data science, artificial intelligence, or machine learning, to be appointed by the governor; and
    • Two academic or government technologists that specialize in and are able to interpret source code, consider technological development workflows, and consult regarding validation, to be appointed by the governor.
• Recommendation 2: Alternatively, if the Legislature prefers the size of the working group to remain closer to what was originally drafted, the number of representatives from each of these categories and the categories currently set out in the bill can be further scaled down, as long as the number of representatives from public interest groups remains equal to the number of representatives from industry-associated entities and organizations. Coalition Letter — HB956