Massachusetts House Bill 4885

• Authority: Massachusetts
• Parent authority: State governments
• Jurisdiction: United States
• Collections: U.S. state and local documents
• Most recent activity: Enacted
• Most recent activity date: 2024-07-25

Risk subdomain coverage

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the risk subdomain are described.

• Cyberattacks, weapon development or use

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

The document has minimal coverage of AI risk domains, with only subdomain 4.2 (Cyberattacks, weapon development or use, and mass harm) receiving a coverage score above 1. The focus is narrowly on evaluating risks of digital firearm manufacturing code being used with AI/ML for weapon development purposes.

Sector coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the sector are explicitly described.

• Public Administration (excl. National Security)

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the sector are described.

• Agriculture, Mining, Construction & Manufacturing
• Scientific Research & Development Services

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

This document primarily governs Public Administration (establishing a legislative commission) and tangentially addresses Manufacturing (firearm production) and Scientific Research and Development Services (investigating emerging technologies including AI/ML applications). The governance is indirect, focused on study and investigation rather than direct regulation of these sectors.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding legislative act establishing a special commission with specific mandates, membership requirements, and reporting deadlines. The language uses mandatory terms ('shall') and creates legal obligations for the commission members.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Massachusetts Legislature (House of Representatives)
• Summary: This is Massachusetts House Bill 4885, indicating it was proposed by the Massachusetts House of Representatives as part of the state legislative process.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Special Legislative Commission members including: chairs of joint committee on judiciary, secretary of public safety and security, colonel of state police, legislative appointees, governor appointee (expert in emerging firearm technologies), attorney general, National Shooting Sports Foundation appointee
• Summary: The bill establishes a special legislative commission with 13 specific members who are obligated to conduct the study and investigation. These commission members are the direct targets of the governance instrument's requirements.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Massachusetts Legislature (clerks of the house of representatives and senate)
• Summary: The clerks of the house and senate are designated as the recipients of the mandatory report, implicitly giving them oversight authority over the commission's compliance with the reporting deadline.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Massachusetts Legislature (clerks of the house of representatives and senate)
• Summary: The clerks of the house and senate will receive and review the commission's report, effectively monitoring the commission's completion of its mandate.

AI Lifecycle Stages

Lifecycle stages covered by the documents, as defined in the OECD Framework for the Classification of AI Systems

• Plan and Design

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document does not directly govern AI development or deployment but rather establishes a commission to study and evaluate risks. The focus is on investigating potential risks before any AI systems are developed, which most closely aligns with the 'Plan and Design' stage of considering AI governance frameworks.

Technical Scope

Terms relating to technical scope that are mentioned or implicitly referenced in the document

No technical scope terms identified.

Technical Scope Summary

The document mentions machine learning and artificial intelligence in the context of evaluating risks associated with digital firearm manufacturing code. However, it does not define these terms or specify particular types of AI systems, models, or technical thresholds.