The rapid adoption and integration of artificial intelligence (AI) has broad implications for every facet of public and private life. In this burgeoning field, the public policy stakes are high, and the issues are complex. CSG South hosted the Dream Machine: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Governing Policy Masterclass to facilitate an exchange of knowledge and expertise to aid policymakers in striking a balance between fostering innovation and establishing regulatory guardrails.
Twenty-one participants from 12 Southern states – Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia – participated in the Masterclass over three days.
Throughout the Masterclass, attendees participated in nine learning sessions and a site visit ranging from information on the impacts of AI and data centers on the energy grid, generative AI tools for legislators and staff, deepfakes and election security, workforce development impacts, permitting reform and governmental transparency, AI and transportation, and protecting student and citizen data privacy. Participants reflected on these presentations and the key issues in their states by participating in a legislative roundtable discussion on AI policies and priorities for the 2025 legislative session. Additionally, participants heard a keynote from Ambassador Jovita Neliupšienė, Delegation of the European Union to the United States of America, who shared the EU’s leading work regarding consumer data privacy laws and AI regulatory reforms.
Participants also traveled to the Arlington campus of the Virginia Tech National Security Institute, where they received briefings on partnering with postsecondary institutions and the private sector to develop the workforce of the future and increase the U.S.’s physical and cyber security. The Learning Sessions throughout the event were as follows:
- Learning Session 1 | Protecting the Grid and Boosting Energy Efficiency with AI Presenter: Maggie Peacock, Manager, Analytics and Data Management, SERC Reliability Corporation, North Carolina
- Learning Session 2 | What Can States Learn from Congress’s Use of AI? Presenter: Aubrey Wilson, Director of Government Innovation, POPVOX Foundation, Washington, D.C.
- Learning Session 3 | Innovation and AI in the Commonwealth’s Permit Transparency Portal Presenter: Matthew Nolan, Deputy Director, Office of Regulatory Management, Virginia
- Learning Session 4 | USDOT, AI, and the Future of Transportation Infrastructure Presenter: Patrick Sabol, Advanced Research Projects Agency -Infrastructure (ARPA-I), Division of Research and Technology, U.S. Department of Transportation
- Learning Session 4 (cont.) | Country R.O.A.D. Take Me Home: How West Virginia’s Using AI to Improve the State Presenter: Hussein Elkhansa, Chief Technology Officer, West Virginia Department of Transportation
- Learning Session 5 | AI, Deep Fakes, and Election Security Presenter: Lindsey Forson, Deputy Executive Director, National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS), Washington, D.C.
- Learning Session 6 | The King and (A)I: Tennessee’s First-in-the-Nation E.L.V.I.S. Act Presenter: Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, Tennessee
- Learning Session 7 | AI, EdTech, and Protecting Student Data Privacy Presenter: Paige Kowalski, Executive Vice President, Data Quality Campaign, Washington, D.C.
- Learning Session 8 | Partnering for Success: AI, Government, and Incentivizing Innovation Presenter: J.P. Singh, Ph.D., Principal Investigator, Center for AI Innovation for Economic Competitiveness (CAIIEC), George Mason University, Virginia
- Learning Session 9 | AI as the Fourth Industrial Revolution – What’s Next? Presenter: Amarda Shehu, Ph.D., Inaugural VP and Chief AI Officer, Institute for Digital InnovAtion (IDIA), George Mason University, Virginia
- Site Visits | Virginia Tech National Security Institute and Commonwealth Cyber Initiative
Participants
- Delegate Bonita Anthony, Virginia
- Ms. Abby Berquist, Research and Budget Analyst for the South Carolina House Ways and Means Committee
- Delegate Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, Virginia
- Senator Jim Burgin, North Carolina
- Ms. Kimberly Davis, Statewide Program Manager for the Arkansas Department of Transformation and Shared Services
- Representative Barbara Freiberg, Louisiana
- Representative Denise Garner, Arkansas
- Senator Rod Hickman, Mississippi
- Representative Scott Holcomb, Georgia
- Ms. Laura Howell, General Counsel for the Alabama Office of Information Technology
- Representative Leigh Hulsey, Alabama
- Representative Derek Lewis, Kentucky
- Delegate Daniel Linville, West Virginia
- Representative Carolyn Logan, North Carolina
- Mr. Patrick Love, Attorney Analyst for the Georgia Senate Office of Policy and Legislative Analysis
- Ms. Julia George Moore, General Counsel for the Office of the Lieutenant Governor/Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism
- Representative Daniel Pae, Oklahoma
- Mr. Luke Priddy, Chief of Staff to the Virginia Senate General Laws and Technology Committee Chairman Adam Ebbin
- Representative Renee Reuter, Missouri
- Mr. Zachary Roger, Assistant to the Senate President Pro Tempore of the Arkansas General Assembly
- Representative Arturo Alonso Sandoval, Oklahoma