Alabama's Artificial Intelligence Task Force will hold its next meeting in July. The meet up tentatively set up for June has been pushed back.
The task force was created by Governor Kay Ivey to promote responsible use of generative artificial intelligence in state government back in February.
The task force’s first meeting was in April where members explained generative A.I. and how it is currently being used.
Jacob Crawford is the communication specialist for the communications college at The University of Alabama. He said there are multiple things generative A.I. will be used, such as developing new ideas within the state in various career fields.
"As someone who uses generative A.I. in their everyday [life], A.I. is a tool, and it can be used to streamline a lot of processes that would take me hours to do. For example, using Firefly to take something out of the background of a shot of my while I'm editing a photo is extremely helpful, whether that's in Lightroom or in Photoshop,” Crawford said.
The task force currently consists of seven cabinet members, two representatives from Alabama higher education and four legislators, including two state representatives and two state senators.
Members of the Governor’s Task Force on Generative Artificial Intelligence:
Cabinet
Secretary Daniel Urquhart, OIT, Chair
Secretary Hal Taylor, ALEA
Commissioner Stephanie Azar, Alabama Medicaid Agency
Director Stacia Robinson, Office of Minority Affairs
Director Bill Poole, Department of Finance
Secretary Fitzgerald Washington, Department of Labor
Commissioner Vernon Barnett, Department of Revenue
Legislators
Senator Sam Givhan
Senator Bobby Singleton
Representative Mike Shaw
Representative Kelvin Lawrence
Higher Education
Dr. Matthew Hudnall, University of Alabama
Dr. Hari Harayanan, Auburn University
Crawford said that generative A.I. should be played with more to see the positive benefits.
“Go out, play, experiment. Have fun with it. See what you can make. Come up with new prompts that nobody's ever done before. I think it's an incredible tool, if we treat it like a tool and not like some scary things to put in a closet. I think we're all going to move forward creatively. I think that's really exciting,” Crawford said.
By November the governor is expecting a report with all of the task force’s findings for responsible use.
