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Tennessee Conservative News Staff –
Governor Bill Lee signed legislation that will regulate artificial intelligence (AI) in the mental health industry.
The new law, as written, “prohibits a person from developing or deploying an artificial intelligence system that advertises or represents to the public that such system is or is able to act as a qualified mental health professional.”
In March, the Senate passed Senate Bill 1580 (SB1580). The House then substituted the Senate bill for House Bill 1470 (HB1470).
It was then sent to Governor Lee who signed it into law on April 1. It officially became Public Chapter 647 on April 6.
During a committee meeting, the bill’s sponsor State Senator Page Walley (R-Bolivar-D26) said, “Artificial intelligence, as we are aware, is a wonderfully powerful tool and has a lot of excellent uses in healthcare, but we believe that if therapy is being provided, that there needs to be a human therapist engaged with the patient and not just a bot.”
The new law will go into effect on July 1.
