The Biggest Tech Shift in History, and No One’s in Charge
50 rulebooks, 1 mess—How America lost control of AI
I write about leadership and AI, with a focus on why critical thinking about technology matters more than ever.
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Weekly AI Reboot: straight talk, smart ideas, stuff worth knowing—#27
California just passed a law requiring AI chatbots that sound human to admit they’re not. Sounds reasonable, right? Except now we’re on track for 50 different versions of what’s “reasonable.”
That’s the problem with letting each state make its own AI rules. One wants chatbots to self-disclose. Another wants to ban AI in hiring. A third is debating whether your kid’s “study assistant” counts as a robot tutor or a privacy threat. And none of them talk to each other.
No one can keep up with 50 different compliance checklists. So guess what happens? They usually default to the strictest state requirements, which in this case means California is quietly creating laws across the entire country.
Credit to
for moving on this because, well, at this point someone in government has to.Where leadership went missing
When the federal government breaks down, governance doesn’t stop but it sure does fracture and fragment:
California regulates chatbots
Illinois takes on AI hiring tools
Texas drafts laws limiting data use
None of these states are wrong to act. They’re doing what happens when leadership disappears at the top. But hey, if the federal government isn’t going to do it, I’m glad somebody’s willing to step up to the plate.
Now Senators Josh Hawley and Dick Durbin are working together on a federal bill aimed at the tech industry, specifically to let people sue them for harm their AI products, like chatbots, may cause.
And let’s be real here. What are the chances of this actually going through without drama from both sides?
This is what happens when you have a government that works for the select few instead of the people it represents. Bills stall because someone wants airtime. Oversight hearings turn into campaign clips. And the rest of us are left watching the biggest shift since the internet unfold with no real structure guiding it.
Signs of cracks in the party line
I guess the silver lining here is that you have some of the loudest GOP supporters finally showing flashes of independence. I recently saw a clip of Josh Hawley grilling the Boeing CEO over his $32.8 million obscene yearly salary, while the company literally has wheels falling off its planes.
Then you have Marjorie Taylor Greene, yes that same MTG, openly calling for unity over Obamacare subsidies about to expire. She’s been making the rounds on all the media circuits arguing they need to stay and the government should have never closed down.
Are they growing a conscience? I don’t know. Are the poll numbers suggesting they need to be worried and start actually working on what really matters to the American people? Maybe.
But AI isn’t waiting for Washington to figure itself out. The technology is moving forward at lightning speed, whether we legislate it or not. The only question is whether anyone in power is still willing or capable of leading.
And if you’d rather be ahead of the curve than caught off guard, that’s why I built my AI Literacy program for parents and for high school and college students: betteludwig.com. A practical way to become AI aware now, before it’s forced on you.
Welcome to The Spotlight Corner 📢
This week I want to give a shoutout to
for my favorite post of the week: The Illusion of NeutralityThe author takes a look at ChatGPT through its own eyes. They ask questions about bias, influence, and manipulation, and get the answers from ChatGPT itself. It’s a fascinating look at how the technology describes and interprets its own behavior.
What I really like about this is that it shows exactly how people should be interacting with this technology because it is biased, and it does lean toward flattery. Part of the goal is to keep you using it. That’s exactly how these platforms make their money. But that doesn’t mean there’s no benefit. It just means we need to stay aware of where the subtle influence starts to show up.
It’s one of the reasons I advocate so strongly for AI literacy. If we don’t start understanding these nuances, we’ll get pulled into the same vortex people fell into with social media, and by the time we notice, it may be too late to pull back. Some people probably think it already is.
📌 Still thinking AI and critical thinking 🤔
Tech Toolbox: Tools I’m Loving Right Now 🛠
My favorite tech tool this month: Scribe
What if I told you that you could make a detailed guide with 50 slides in less than a minute?
➥ Enter Scribe.
With the free version, you just hit record, go through the online process you want to capture, and Scribe does the rest. It automatically grabs screenshots, highlights where to click or type, and builds a shareable guide you can edit, delete, rearrange, or insert steps into.
The result is clear instructions with clean visuals that look like they came straight out of a professional manual, without any extra design effort.
I wrote about this on Medium back in 2023, but I’m dusting it off for those who missed it. If you need to make tutorials, onboarding docs, or just want to save yourself the pain of explaining the same thing 12 times in a row, this is pretty nifty.
The best dictation tool I’ve used ⤵
Wispr Flow Referral Link: wisprflow.ai/r/WISPR6911.
(You get a $15 credit once you hit 2,000 words! Trust me when I tell you that will happen quickly once you get hooked on this thing).
In Case You Missed It! 🔙
👉 My posts 📝from last week:
➠ I Was Set on My Future—Then One Conversation Rerouted My Entire Life (A more personal story I published in about my career journey and how it’s come full circle).
➠ Last Week’s Weekly Reboot: AI This Week: Superhero Cats and Law & Order Courtroom Drama (Dun-Dun) ⚖
➠ check out my most recent Instagram (I turned my post about college and AI into a short reel) 😊
And until next week, “Don’t forget to lead with purpose in everything you do.”
We are navigating a landscape where the rules change by zip code and the technology respects no borders at all. Great post!
This patchwork regulatory framework is a complete mess that you described very well. Every state has their own pet objective while nobody is thinking about consistent minimum standards and guardrails that address the biggest risks of privacy, subliminal manipulation, and mass copyright infringement. I fear it will take a major controversy or scandal to finally push Congress into action.