The Pros and Cons of Banning AI in Montana

Wow, AI is moving crazy fast. The AI research company OpenAI released the original version of DALL-E in January of 2021, which creates blurry, yet strangely accurate images based on word prompts. It was an impressive at the time but compared to what AI can create now, it's like comparing the Mona Lisa to a toddler's scribbles. Now AI can write essays, plays and the lyrics to a song, oh and AI can even imitate your favorite artists to sing the song too, to the point where it's so accurate streaming companies remove them at the request of music corporations. The video capabilities are also staggering, if you haven't seen it yet, definitely watch the video below.

As incredible as AI can be, there are potential downsides to having a tool this powerful available to anyone. Banning AI in Montana wouldn't eliminate all the risks, but being the first state to do so could encourage the rest of the country to also take actions to protect citizens from new threats. Here's why we should ban or restrict AI in Montana:

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Scams

Now AI can mimic your friend or family member's voice and ask you for money, here's an article about it. Limiting the use of AI could make it impossible for scam artists to use that technique.

Humiliation

Not all AI-generated content is fun like this video of Biden, Obama and Trump ranking Legend of Zelda video games. AI-voice mimicking technology can be used to make it sound like someone is saying disgusting things that a person wouldn't want anyone to hear, even if they could prove they didn't actually say it. The use of AI-generated videos could be even more violating.

As for why we may not want to ban AI in Montana, there's really only one reason I can think of, though it's a big reason in my opinion. Banning or restricting AI would put Montana at a disadvantage. Programmers, artists, writers and people in other professions are already using AI to help with the work they do. Maybe employers would be less likely to hire Montanans for that reason. Hopefully there's a way to minimize risks for Montanans while not stifling those who are only using the tool in a responsible manner.