Washington state Gov. Bob Ferguson is threading the needle when it comes to artificial intelligence.
Ferguson made a brief appearance at the opening reception for Seattle AI Week on Monday evening, speaking at AI House on Pier 70 about his approach to governing the consequential technology.
“I view my job as maximizing the benefits and minimizing harms,” said Ferguson, who took office earlier this year.
Ferguson called AI one of the “top five biggest challenges” he thinks about daily, both professionally and personally.
In a follow-up interview with GeekWire, the governor said AI “could totally transform our government, as well as the private sector, in many ways.”
His comments came just as Amazon, the largest employer in Washington state, said it would eliminate about 14,000 corporate jobs, citing a need to reduce bureaucracy and become more efficient in the new era of artificial intelligence.
Ferguson told the crowd that the future of work and “loss of jobs that come with the technology” is on his mind.
The governor highlighted Washington’s AI Task Force, created during his tenure as attorney general, which is studying issues from algorithmic bias to data security. The group’s next set of recommendations arrives later this year and could shape upcoming legislation, he said.
States are moving ahead with their own AI rules in the absence of a comprehensive federal framework. Washington appears to sit in the pragmatic middle of this fast-moving regulatory landscape — using executive action and an expert task force to build guidelines, while watching experiments in states such as California and Colorado.
Seattle city leaders also getting involved. Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell last month announced a “responsible AI plan” that provides guidelines for Seattle’s use of artificial intelligence and its support of the AI tech sector as an economic driver.
Ferguson said he’s aware of how AI can “really revolutionize our economy and state in so many ways,” from healthcare to education to wildfire detection.
But he also flagged his concerns — both as a policymaker and parent. The governor, who has 17-year-old twins, said he worries about the technology’s impact on young people, referencing reports of teen suicides linked to AI chatbots and online harm.
Despite those concerns, Ferguson maintained an upbeat tone during his remarks at Seattle AI Week, citing the region’s technical talent and economic opportunity from the technology.
He noted that the state, amid a $16 billion budget shortfall this year, kept $300,000 in funding for the AI House, the new waterfront startup hub that hosted Monday’s event.
“There is no better place, really, anywhere in the United States for this innovation than right here in the Northwest,” he said.
Related: A tale of two Seattles in the age of AI: Harsh realities and new hope for the tech community
