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The bill also established that agencies report by July 1 what AI systems are in development, employed or procured and that the council review and report its findings to the Legislature by Dec. 1.
Capriglione and Parker are authors of HB 2060 and will work with five technology experts, one of whom is state CIO and Department of Information Resources Executive Director Amanda Crawford.
The DIR executive director, one member of the state House and one member of the state Senate are required as per the bill, and the remaining four members are to be experts in various disciplines including law and ethics. DIR will provide administrative support.
The council is charged with assessing the need for an AI code of ethics in state government, reviewing automated decision systems, evaluating risks and benefits associated with automated decision items and recommending administrative actions for state agencies to ensure AI systems are thoughtfully and ethically developed.
Capriglione was appointed by House Speaker Dade Phelan, and Parker was appointed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
Governor-appointed members are:
- Texas A&M University System CIO Mark Stone, who has been with the system for 11 years.
- Rice University’s Angela Wilkins, executive director of the Ken Kennedy Institute. The institute leads collaborative research on AI, data and computing.
- Cybersecurity expert Dean Teffer, who is CTO for Cyber Sainik in Austin.
- Attorney John Bash, a former U.S. attorney. He is co-managing partner at Quinn Emanuel’s Trial Lawyers’ Austin office.
