Thirty-eight Utahns spent two days in a Draper office building drafting AI policy proposals they plan to present to state and local officials.
The Utah Solutions Forum, held Sept. 18 and 19 in the building that houses Bamboo, Ancestry and e-commerce company Redo, brought together residents from Cache, Salt Lake and Utah counties. Selected by lottery from 376 applicants, the group produced 10 recommendations on AI education, data center oversight and government accountability.
Only one delegate voted against the final package.
The proposals will be presented to officials at a November reception, Catherine Eslinger told The Salt Lake Tribune. Eslinger, director of civic engagement for Mormon Women for Ethical Government, is part of the Utah Common Ground coalition that hosted the forum. She told the Deseret News in September that the event was a pilot she hopes will continue.
Among the delegates was William Floyd, a Draper software engineer who told the Tribune he agreed with the proposals but felt like one of the least pessimistic people in the room. Floyd has weathered rounds of layoffs and guesses that in about 10 years, only a third of the country's software engineers will still have jobs in the field.
"I'm hoping to be one of those 30%. I don't really have that many backup plans," he said.
The forum's proposals fall into three groups. Four address public education: a multilingual AI information hub, a citizen engagement portal, AI literacy classes in Utah's 60 community libraries funded through existing library enhancement funds, and a public awareness campaign. The information hub drew 95% support from delegates.
Three proposals target data center development. Delegates recommended that local approval of hyperscale data centers require a legislative vote by city councils and county commissions, replacing the current administrative land-use process. They also called for applicant-funded environmental and economic impact analyses and consistent statewide standards reviewed every five years, with fines and incentive clawbacks for noncompliance.
The remaining three proposals focus on accountability. Delegates called for mandatory recusal by officials with conflicts of interest, limits on nondisclosure agreements that shield matters of public safety or public funds, and a new AI harm category in the Utah Division of Consumer Protection's complaint portal. That last proposal drew 97% support, the highest of any item considered.
Zach Boyd, director of Utah's Office of AI Policy, addressed the forum and called the state "disproportionately influential" on AI issues, the Tribune reported. He told delegates he would review their proposals closely.
The forum took place against a backdrop of public frustration over the proposed Stratos data center project in Box Elder County. That controversy contributed to Utah Senate President Stuart Adams losing his reelection bid in June, according to the Tribune. Gov. Spencer Cox, who once supported the project, has since called its rollout "not good" and asked Congress to develop a nationwide AI transparency framework.
Eslinger said the two-day turnaround was lightning speed in the policy world. Delegates will be invited to advocate directly to elected officials, according to the Utah Common Ground recommendations report.
