Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) this week proposed a citizen bill of rights for artificial intelligence (AI), explaining that he does not subscribe to the “AI exceptionalist” viewpoint.
DeSantis said during a press conference this week that there are individuals out there who believe the Big Tech industry should just get whatever they want and subsidize it “and somehow that’s going to lead us to some happy place.”
“You know, I reject that,” the governor made clear. “I know that’s not accurate, and I know that’s not in the best interest of either the state of Florida or the United States of America.”
“And so you do have this strain of thinking, which I think it’s – I call it AI exceptionalism, as if this is going to be something where, you know it’s going to solve every problem, and humans aren’t even going to be needed to do,” he said, offering a view of this utopian way of thinking.
“Everyone can just sit around and play golf all day, and you’re going to get universal basic income, and they’re going to cure – and it’s like, no. … First of all, that’s not likely to happen. And second of all, I think it raises huge concerns, and so I am, you know, not an AI exceptionalist,” he said, identifying himself as an “individual and human exceptionalist.”
“I think new technologies have to be developed in a way that aligns with American values – things like self-government, free speech, having a healthy labor force, federalism, and the rights of states and the creation and maintenance of strong families,” he said. “You want technologies that enhance our way of life, not supplant our way of life, and we will never, ever be able to credibly shed ourselves of our responsibility to think for ourselves.”
“We cannot turn it all over to machines and think it’s all going to work out great in the end,” he said, explaining that the interests of Big Tech do not align with the interests of the American public, which is a major issue.
“The incentive of big tech is to maximize profits off of this. They’re spending a lot of money on creating data centers … and the whole reason they’re doing it is to get a return on the investment. … They’re going to guide the technologies in a direction that is going to be the most likely to monetize returns,” he said. “So if there’s ways technologies would be more beneficial for humanity, but it would lose money versus some that could be destructive, but will make them a lot of money, they are going to choose the money.”
Because of all of these realities, DeSantis is proposing legislation which would “protect Floridians’ privacy, security, and quality of life.”
According to a breakdown from the governor’s office, the legislation would:
- Reenact protections Florida has already passed against “deep fakes” and explicit material, including those depicting minors.
- Prohibit any state or local government agency from utilizing DeepSeek or any other Chinese-created AI tools to protect American data.
- Prohibit AI from using an individual’s Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) without their consent – tie it to harm or sale of a product (political ads, schemes to defraud already in law).
- Require a notice to consumers when interacting with AI (Company chatbots).
- Prohibit entities from providing “licensed” therapy or mental health counseling through artificial intelligence. This can be expanded to include use of AI to imitate a licensed professional.
- Provide parental controls for minors which will allow parents to access the conversation their child has with a large language model, set parameters for when the child can access the platform, and notify parents if their child exhibits concerning behavior.
- Ensure data inputted to AI is secure and private.
- Prohibit companies from selling or sharing personal identifying information with third parties (deidentified) and mirror data privacy protections in current law.
- Limit insurance companies from using AI for insurance claims. Require that AI cannot be used as the sole determination in adjusting or denying a claim. Insurers that use AI for claims must detail the use and allow the Office of Insurance Regulation to inspect the AI model to ensure it does not violate unfair insurance trade practices.
Additionally, the governor’s Data Centers proposal would “protect Consumers from footing the bill for AI Data Centers.”
“We must put Floridians first!” DeSantis added.
WATCH the full press conference below:
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