AUSTIN, Texas — A recent report from the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative policy organization, gives lawmakers policy suggestions to counteract bad AI actors. 

“We see with these nefarious tools, even though it’s a small percentage of companies, there are life-altering consequences, and it can be a matter of life and death,” David Dunmoyer, a campaign director with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, said. 

McAllen state Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa pre-filed two bills, SB441 and SB442, targeting the creation and sharing of explicit deep fake images. One establishes civil liability for victims and the other creates criminal punishment for those who publish explicit sexual images. 

“With the technologies as it advances, we ought to make it accountable and responsible and maybe sometimes have government come in and play some guardrails,” said Hinojosa. 

His bills address only a small part of the emerging tech, but Hinojosa calls it a bipartisan effort.

With a month until the legislative session, 14 bills are pre-filed related to artificial intelligence, but more are expected. 

A House committee on AI and emerging technologies, chaired by Keller Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, spent the interim meeting with hundreds of stakeholders in the AI industry. 

“We’re looking at misinformation, disinformation. We’re looking at potential use as deep fakes, election interference, revenge porn. I mean, there is a darker side to using this technology,” said Capriglione. 

Capriglione drafted a 40-page bill that would create various requirements for AI developers, deployers and distributors.

“We do not want to restrict companies from being innovative, from having new important ways to use artificial intelligence. But first and foremost, we have to make sure that there are guardrails that protect all of us when using these tools,” Capriglione said.

“This will be one of the, if not the defining bills next session,” Dunmoyer said.

Dunmoyer expects Capriglione’s legislation to be a defining bill during the 89th regular legislative session and possibly a defining bill for the country. Dunmoyer thinks Texas will create a framework for legislating artificial intelligence. 

“We have the tech talent, we have the venture capital, we have the great institutions that California does to a certain extent. What’s unique is that we have the Texas values that humanity should be served by technology rather than the other way around,” he said. 

Capriglione expects his legislation to be filed before the new year.