On March 4, 2024, House Bill 5690 related to creating a West Virginia Task Force on Artificial Intelligence passed the West Virginia State Senate after passing the West Virginia House of Representatives on February 23, 2024. In particular, the bill creates a West Virginia task force on artificial intelligence (AI), organized within the Office of the Governor.

More specifically, the bill provides the composition of the task force and delineates the responsibilities of the task force including: 

• recommending a definition of AI as it pertains to its use in technology for use in legislation;
• determining the relevant State agency or agencies to develop and oversee AI policy and implementation of that policy;
• determining which public interest use cases exist or may exist for AI;
• developing best practices for public sector uses of AI in West Virginia;
• recommending legislation to protect individual rights, civil liberties, and consumer data as it relates to generative AI;
• recommending model policies for schools to address the use of AI by students in the classroom;
• determining and making recommendations regarding whether the task force should be extended to monitor, analyze, and make findings and recommendations to keep pace with changes in AI technology and uses of the technology;
• assessing the use of AI in the workforce and its effect on employment levels, types of employment, and the deployment of workers; and
• taking an inventory of the current or proposed use of AI within West Virginia Agencies.

Finally, the bill states that the task force is required to submit an electronic report, covering its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature by July 1, 2025. The task force would terminate on the date that it submits the report or on July 1, 2025, whichever is later.

The bill would now be sent to the Governor for signature to become law.

You can read the enrolled bill here and view its legislative history here.

Update: March 14, 2024

Bill sent to Governor for signature

On March 9, 2024, the bill was sent to the Governor of West Virginia for signature.

You can read the enrolled bill here and view its legislative history here.