SANTA FE, N.M. — Whether people like it or not, artificial intelligence is here to stay.

Many people probably use AI every day without even knowing it, and while AI itself is not inherently bad, some state lawmakers still believe there needs to be some guardrails put in law.

“I think many of us feel we’re behind the eight ball a little bit, and we need to start working to catch up,” Rep. Christine Chandler said.

Chandler is behind a new bill establishing new regulations for predictive AI tools, ones used to make serious, consequential decisions.

“Employment, educational opportunities, housing opportunities, health care opportunities, those are consequential, because they have a very significant effect on your life,” Chandler said.

Her bill would essentially require companies to disclose when AI is used to make those decisions and make sure there’s no underlying bias embedded in the data.

“We should expect that people who are using the tools and developing the tools know what the underlying data is and validate that it measures for the correct things,” Chandler said.

Computer science professor Cris Moore said legislation like this is targeting growing concerns about “algorithmic discrimination.”

“With AI, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to tell what it is about you, what facts or data about you was used to make the decision, and why did you get a ‘no’?” Moore said. “Is it a preexisting condition? Is it, you know, your income isn’t good enough? Is it the cut of your jib? Hopefully it’s not the color of your skin.”

Some lawmakers are already willing to crack down on AI, with a bill banning landlords from using the technology to manipulate rent prices.

“That’s absolutely happening in our communities, and this is why we’re trying to put a stop to it,” Rep. Andrea Romero said.

Both of those bills are sitting at the halfway point right now — and there is still plenty of time for those house floor debates this session — but lawmakers also know this AI conversation is far from over.”

“This is a significant issue that we need to be addressing in the next few sessions,” Chandler said.

And a bipartisan group of lawmakers wants to get a head start by creating a new interim legislative committee solely dedicated to discussing artificial intelligence issues and opportunities.

“In principle, AI is something which can democratize a lot of things in our society by putting tools in the hands of individuals, which before were only in the hands of large corporations,” Moore said. “So I want us to have the best of what AI has to offer, (but) I also want to make sure it’s not affecting people for the worse.”