AI guardrails should be dynamic, evolving, says Alabama’s AI chief

Source Domain: statescoop.com

Aaron Wright, who was last month named Alabama’s first chief artificial intelligence officer, is stepping into the role with a number of priorities and objectives already in sight, including ensuring that the state’s AI guardrails are dynamic, and evolve continuously.

Wright, the state’s former director of application development who was tapped to helm the state’s AI efforts from the newly created CAIO role housed within the Alabama Office of Information Technology late last month, said that because AI is an “evolving space,” his goals and how the state thinks about the tech will also likely evolve. Wright, who co-led a working group under the Alabama Governor’s generative AI task force in his previous role, said those goals also include helping to ensure the state uses AI efficiently, responsibly and transparently.

“My first year will be focused on building a strong, collaborative foundation for AI across state government,” Wright wrote in an email interview. “That includes expanding workforce education opportunities and advancing a statewide AI learning platform, continuing to enable the use of vetted and approved AI tools, and working closely with agencies to identify and scale high-value use cases.”

These priorities were also tasks assigned to the state’s generative AI task force, which was created by Gov. Kay Ivey via executive order in 2024. The group was tasked with submitting to the governor a report on responsible AI use. It included recommendations that informed the creation of the state’s two guiding policy documents for AI: the Alabama generative AI acceptable use policy and the artificial intelligence governance policy. Wright said they “emphasize secure, approved tools, responsible data handling, and clear boundaries around appropriate use.”

Wright also co-led the task force’s data management and ownership working group, which developed recommendations for the data-handling portions of the…

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