Kentucky lawmakers hope to continue the conversation about AI policies
Republished from Kentucky Lantern
LEXINGTON — In front of a crowd that included the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees, state lawmakers discussed the ample opportunities to use artificial intelligence in Kentucky — particularly in areas of workforce development.
The panel, held Thursday evening on campus, comes after the General Assembly passed initial legislation to regulate AI in state government with Senate Bill 4 earlier this year. The law, carried by Sen. Amanda Mays Bledsoe, R-Lexington, sets standards for how state agencies can use AI and how to report that use to an oversight committee. The legislation had some bipartisan support and was signed by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear in March.
Some of the policies set forth in the law were discussed in last year’s legislative AI task force, chaired by Bledsoe and Rep. Josh Bray, R-Mount Vernon. In November, the group released 11 recommendations for AI policies the General Assembly debated during the 2025 legislative session.
Most of the questions during the panel discussion focused on how AI could benefit Kentuckians in areas like health care, education and more. The panelists discussed a variety of possibilities, such as how AI could be used to automate scheduling doctor appointments for patients or giving students an AI tutor to assist them with learning.
“We only just scratched the surface of really a few areas,” Bledsoe said of last year’s task force. “We left out some really key places.”
Many of those discussions centered around how the state government can use AI ethically while also protecting the privacy and rights of Kentuckians, the senator said. After the panel, she told the Kentucky Lantern she hopes the task force is renewed by the General Assembly’s leadership for the interim session leading up to the 2026 legislative session beginning in January.
“I think the biggest conversation that we didn’t get to have was centered around energy use policies and what data centers mean for, not only for Kentucky, but for artificial intelligence in general,” Bray said during the panel.
Bray said that cheap energy resources are in demand across the country, and data centers needed to support AI technology “use a lot more energy than really any other sector or emerging industry, but there’s not a ton of jobs tied to it and to the data center itself, and so there’s a really large policy discussion and some decisions that have to be made around that.”
After the panel, Bledsoe said discussions on AI and energy policy are “going to be critical” moving forward, along with figuring out land-use policies for AI data centers across the state.
During last year’s task force, some conversations honed in on AI in areas like criminal law and election interference. SB 4 ultimately included that political candidates that have their speech or videos altered by AI can sue in court.
Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams testified before the legislative task force, urging lawmakers to consider legislation that would make it a crime in Kentucky to impersonate an election official. His concerns at the time stemmed from a political consultant making fake robocalls to New Hampshire voters mimicking President Joe Biden ahead of the 2024 primary election encouraging them to not vote.
Bledsoe said after the Thursday panel that some issues around AI and crimes are still being litigated in courts, meaning they could affect legislation passed before a judge renders a decision. Plus, Kentucky lawmakers are watching how laws passed in other states, especially those addressing AI in elections, are playing out.
The task force also made a recommendation to urge the federal government to bolster AI regulations at the national level. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to promote AI education in K-12 schools, calling AI “the way to the future.”
Bledsoe said if Congress passed a national framework for states on AI policies, that could avoid having a “patchwork” of different laws across the country.
“We’re hoping that moves forward before we have to,” she said. “I think most states are waiting — are hoping — that moves forward.”
As for the 2026 legislative session, Bledsoe hopes to reintroduce legislation she pulled this year that would have established rights for ownership of one’s likeness in images. She said the bill was “not quite where it needs to be” and faces complications in social media use.
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