COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – An Ohio lawmaker wants to prevent artificial intelligence systems from recognizing people and make it illegal for residents to marry a person.
Rep. Thaddeus Claggetta Licking County Republican and chairman of the House Technology and Innovation Committee, introduced House Bill 469 in delayed September. The legislation would declare AI systems “non-intelligent entities” and ban them from obtaining legal personality.
“As the ability of computer systems to behave more and more like humans improves, we want to make sure that we have prohibitions in our law that prohibit these systems from ever being human in their functioning,” he said in an interview with Nexstar’s WCMH.
The proposal is intended to prevent the technology from forming a connection with a human or other AI system. Claggett said this will aid prevent AI from taking over roles typically held by spouses, such as holding power of attorney or making financial or medical decisions on behalf of another.
“People need to understand that we’re not talking about marching down the aisle to some tune and having a ceremony with the robot that’s going to be here on our streets in a year or two,” Claggett said. “That could happen, but that’s not really what we’re saying.”
In a survey of 1,000 AI users by Florida-based marketing company Fractl, 22% of respondents said they have “formed an emotional connection” with a chatbot, and 3% said they consider a chatbot a romantic partner. Additionally, 16% said they wondered whether AI was sentient after a lengthy conversation.
Under the legislation, AI was not allowed to own or control real estate, intellectual property or financial accounts. It also prohibits the technology from being used in any management, director or executive positions in companies and stipulates that any harm caused by an AI system is the responsibility of its human owners or developers.
Claggett said AI systems are “far smarter than a single human” and “better at certain tasks,” giving the technology widespread appeal to take on roles traditionally reserved for humans. Lawmakers said they wanted to prevent that.
“The public needs to understand the extreme risk,” Claggett said. “In Ohio, because of the way these things are moving so quickly, we have a number of bills before our technology committee [are] We’re trying to put some guardrails in place so that we always have a human in charge of the technology, rather than the other way around.”
He said a law passed by the Utah Legislature in 2024 that prohibits giving legal personality to AI influenced HB 469, as did a similar bill introduced in Missouri earlier this year.
Claggett’s proposal comes at a time when the reach of AI is rapidly expanding in Ohio and beyond. schools in the state are now required Implement guidelines on how Students and educators should exploit AIand a New data center in Albany The ongoing project is expected to advance AI infrastructure.
AI systems can generate text, photos and videos and perform tasks similar to human abilities, such as analyzing data and creating art. The technology is spreading across a variety of industries, including healthcare and finance.
HB 469 is awaiting its first hearing.
