As a human being, James Maroney is a believer in the potential of artificial intelligence to do good.
“I do see the potential for AI to transform our lives and improve the way we live," Maroney said. “To improve the quality of life, the length of life.”
But as the Democratic state senator of Connecticut’s 14th district, Maroney is more of a cautious optimist when it comes to AI.
“We’re going to see AI transform our lives,” he said. “However, we’re not going to see the full transformation until people feel safe.”
Maroney is deeply concerned about what he says is the unchecked influence of artificial intelligence on people's lives.
“Companies are using AI for screening resumes, for hiring,” he said. “Depending on the survey you look at 50% to 70% of large landlords are using AI for screening tenants.”
Maroney said history has shown the harm that can be done when bias is programmed into an AI decision-making algorithm. He used Amazon’s 2014 hiring algorithm as an example.
“Since most [Amazon] technologists were men, it predicted that it wanted to hire a man. If you were a woman, you didn't get recommended for the job,” Maroney said. "We want to make sure that we're preventing those harms before it gets so widely adopted.”
Resistance from the governor
Despite strong support for AI legislation within the Connecticut General Assembly, resistance remains at the highest level of state government. Gov. Ned Lamont has positioned himself as a roadblock to comprehensive AI legislation, having promised last legislative session to veto a bill sponsored primarily by Maroney.
That bill would have imposed restrictions on how companies could deploy AI systems, particularly in decision-making processes that affect individuals. lt passed the state Senate during the last legislative session along party lines, but the House never took it up after Lamont made it clear he would not sign it into law.
Proponents of the bill argue that AI regulation is essential to preventing algorithmic discrimination and ensuring transparency in automated systems. Maroney, who has been a leading advocate for AI accountability in Connecticut, has worked to build bipartisan support for legislation that would introduce standards for fairness and oversight.
However, Lamont and his administration have expressed concerns about the difficulty of regulating a rapidly evolving technology, the risk of a patchwork of state regulations complicating compliance for companies operating nationwide, and the risk of overregulation in Connecticut driving businesses out of the state.
“We’ll see if there is anything else we’ve got to do in terms of guardrails,” Lamont said in a recent address, “but I also don’t want to do anything that slows up innovation and makes that smart, young programmer think that maybe it’s a little safer to do this in Georgia than it is in Connecticut.”
CT’s race to not be first
Despite last year’s legislative impasse, Maroney sees reason for optimism in 2025. One key factor: Connecticut would no longer be the first state to enact AI regulations.
“I think last year, one of [Lamont’s] concerns was he didn’t want to be first,” Maroney said. “And we’ve seen Colorado passed [its] bill.”
The Colorado law, signed in 2023, created a framework for AI governance and Maroney believes it has helped ease some of Lamont’s concerns about unintended consequences. Colorado’s task force is currently refining the law’s definitions and implementation, offering a potential model for Connecticut to follow.
Clearing the path forward
Maroney says he’s encouraging supporters of AI legislation to take other measures to quell concerns.
“One of the concerns is always unintended consequences,” he said. “A lot of the issues with the bill have been people who are coming [to us] and they weren’t intended to be drawn into the bill. So, we’re just trying to make sure the language is very clear, to give them the certainty that they’re not intended to be drawn in.”
Maroney also stressed the importance of accommodating small businesses.
“We're also going to make sure that we’re working with small businesses and that it’s something that we can make sure that they can handle,” he said.
After about three years of working on this legislation, Maroney says he’s optimistic.
“I think that we’ll get there this year,” Maroney said. “With any big piece of legislation, it takes time.”
