This spring Colorado passed the country’s first comprehensive law over how companies and governments use artificial intelligence to make key decisions over people’s lives.

“Whether (people) get insurance, or what the rate for their insurance is, or legal decisions or employment decisions, whether you get fired or hired, could be up to an AI algorithm,” warns Democratic State Rep. Brianna Titone, one of the main Legislative sponsors of the bill.

The law isn’t aimed at deep fakes or fraud, which some states, including Colorado, have addressed in other laws, but applies to how AI is used in evaluating people for things like school applications, hiring, loans, access to health care or insurance.

It takes effect in 2026 and requires companies and some government agencies to inform people when an AI system is used. If someone thinks the technology has treated them unfairly, the law allows them to correct the data it’s using or file a complaint. It sets up a process to investigate bad actors.

“If you were fired by an AI process and you say, ‘Well, this is impossible, there’s no way I should be fired by this,’” Titone said, “you can find a resolution through the attorney general’s office to say, ‘We need someone to intervene and to double check that this process actually didn’t discriminate and have a bias against that person.’”

She said in some cases AI has been found to give people an advantage based on their names or hobbies such as, “if your name is Jared and you played lacrosse.”

Democratic State Rep. Manny Rutinel, another sponsor, said some provisions require companies to identify how algorithms could lead to discrimination and disclose how the data is used to train the systems.

“We still have a lot to do,” Rutinel said. “But I think this is a great first step, a really significant and robust first step to make sure that technology works for everyone, not just a privileged few.”

Colorado’s move is being eyed by other states

The Colorado law originated from a similar proposal introduced in Connecticut earlier this year, which failed to pass there. Other places have instituted narrower policies. New York City requires employers using AI technologies to conduct independent “bias audits” on some software tools and share them publicly.

“So the states are clearly looking at each other to see how they can put their own stamp on the regulation,” said Helena Almeida, the vice president and managing counsel of ADP, which develops AI payroll services for a number of large companies.

“It’s definitely going to have an impact on all employers and deployers of AI systems,” said Almeida of the Colorado law.

Matt Scherer, an attorney at the Center for Democracy and Technology, said companies have been using various automatic systems, not even referred to as AI, to make employment decisions for at least the last eight years.

“We really have so little insight into how companies are using AI to decide who gets jobs, who gets promotions, who gets access to an apartment or a mortgage or a house or healthcare. And that is a situation that just isn’t sustainable because, again, these decisions are making crucial aspects that make major impacts on people’s lives,” he said.

But he’s concerned Colorado’s law doesn’t allow individuals a specific right to sue for AI-related damages.

“There’s definitely a lot of worries among labor unions and civil society organizations that this bill just doesn’t have enough teeth to really force companies to change their practices.”

Plans to change the law are already underway – it’s just a start

When Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed SB24-205 in May, he told lawmakers he did so with reservations, writing, “I am concerned about the impact this law may have on an industry that is fueling critical technological advancements across our state for consumers and enterprises alike.”

He said it’s best decided by the federal government so there’s a national approach and a level playing field.

However, Polis said he hopes Colorado’s law furthers the discussion of AI, especially nationally, and he asked lawmakers to refine it before it takes effect. A state task force will meet in September to make recommendations in February. Polis has outlined areas of concern and asked them to focus regulations on software developers rather small companies that use AI systems.

Polis said the law could be used to target those using AI even when it’s not intentionally discriminatory.

“I want to be clear in my goal of ensuring Colorado remains home to innovative technologies and our consumers are able to fully access important AI-based products,” he wrote.

Industry is watching this law and others possibly coming

Michael Brent, of the Boston Consulting Group, works with companies as they develop and deploy AI systems to identify and try to mitigate the ways AI could harm communities.

“Companies have a desire to build faster, cheaper, more accurate, more reliable, less environmentally damaging” systems, he said. He said Colorado’s law could encourage transparency for people affected by AI.

“They can get into that space where they’re having that moment of critical reflection, and they can simply say to themselves, ‘You know what? I actually don’t want a machine learning system to be processing my data in this conversation. I would prefer to opt out by closing that window or calling a human being if I can.’”

For all the focus on creating comprehensive regulations Democratic Rep. Titone said Colorado is very much at the beginning of figuring it out with the tech industry.

“We have to be able to communicate and understand what these issues are and how they can be abused and misused.”

Bente Birkeland covers state government for CPR News.

Copyright 2024 CPR News

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Englewood is the first municipality to partner with Compost Colorado to bring composting containers to all city buildings.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), methane gas is 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping atmospheric heat and makes up about 16% of global emissions. A new internal city-wide program in Englewood aims to cut back on methane gas emissions, starting with employee food scraps.

“If you are taking your banana peels and throwing them in the trash, that goes to the landfill, where it generates methane gas because it’s trapped in styrofoam and plastic and it’s broken down anaerobically. Instead, you can turn that banana peel, those coffee grounds into compost, which reduces and eliminates that methane and, in exchange, makes a really healthy, nutrient-rich compost soil amendment,” said Vann Fussell, founder of Compost Colorado.

The company offers residential and commercial compost pick-up to communities across the Front Range. They typically divert around 50,000 pounds of scraps and compostable products away from landfills each week.

In the last week, Compost Colorado launched something new — a partnership with the City of Englewood.

“This is one of the first kinds of partnerships we’ve developed with a municipality,” said Fussell.

Compost Colorado bins can now be found in about 20 break rooms for city employees.

“City staff can utilize it after lunch if they have a banana peel or anything organic. They can put it in this bin and know that they’re helping with waste diversion,” said Melissa Englund, Englewood’s sustainability program manager who has been working for years with Compost Colorado to launch the program.

The program was funded through money from the Public Works budget — $570 as a one-time start-up fee and a monthly payment of $685. That includes 20 bins and multiple 64-gallon roll-offs that will be located at the Civic Center, the police department, the Service Center, Malley Senior Center, South Platte Renew and the Englewood Recreation Center.

Public Works staff saw firsthand just how much compostable material was heading straight to the dump in the trash.

“Right now, we currently have recycling. We do the trash removal, and we do look at what we’re throwing away. With a lot of food and a lot of product that can be in compost, we decided it’d be a really good program to add,” said Ron Thornton, deputy director of Englewood Public Works.

The bins are expected to have a big impact once all 600+ city employees join in.

“The first few weeks you might expect, you know, about one or two tons of diversion across their municipal buildings. But that might snowball into maybe even 10 tons a week from across all their departments,” said Fussell.

Organizers hope the commitment to composting spreads beyond the government buildings. The city has posted signage and hosted lunch-and-learns to give their employees information on how to properly compost.

“We hope that they take that information and bring it home to their friends and families and get them excited about composting, too,” said Englund.

“If your city leaders aren’t recycling and composting, it’s hard for you as a resident to feel that it’s your responsibility to do that, so I appreciate Englewood. They’re setting a good example to their community,” said Fussell. “I’m really hopeful that these other municipalities that we operate in Broomfield, Westminster, Arvada, Lakewood, Centennial, Highlands Ranch, all of these municipalities adopt a similar practice, and we can divert as much food waste from the landfill as we can.”

Englewood does offer community compost drop-off at the recreation center. Residents need to sign up with Compost Colorado for $5/week to have 24/7 access to the bin there. The residential bin was launched in May 2023 and since then, 2,820 lbs of organic waste has been diverted, according to the city.

The upcoming 2024 NBA draft features a ton of interesting, long-term-project types of unpolished prospects.

The Miami Heat might seek out more of a plug-and-play contributor with the No. 15 pick. And as they just learned from last year’s No. 18 pick, All-Rookie first-teamer Jaime Jaquez Jr., selecting an NBA-ready prospect doesn’t necessarily mean sacrificing upside.

The Heat could have similar luck with Colorado swingman Tristan da Silva, who already looks like a big-league glue-guy and still has room to grow his game.

The knocks on da Silva follow the same criticisms you’ve heard before with upperclassmen: He is 23 years old already and isn’t a jaw-dropping athlete. The positives, though, are almost too numerous to mention.

The 6-foot-8 forward, whom Sarah Todd of the Deseret News wrote “has Jaime Jaquez Jr. written all over him,” boasts a do-it-all skillset that could make da Silva perfect in a two-way connective role. He shreds nets from distance. He finishes with soft touch around the basket. He creates for himself and his teammates off the dribble. He defends with competitiveness and can handle switching assignments.

He maybe isn’t a future star-in-the-making, but Miami doesn’t necessarily need to chase a sky-high ceiling here. Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo are already stars. Tyler Herro routinely posts star-level stat lines. Supporting this trio could be much more of a priority than chasing long-shot potential.

If da Silva is still on the board at No. 15, the Heat could have a hard time passing him up.

Zach Buckley works as a contributing writer to Inside the Heat. He can be reached at zbuck07@gmail.com or follow him on X @ZachBuckleyNBA.

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