Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash

The topic of “Artificial Intelligence in Elections” will be the focus of the League of Women Voters Chaffee County (LWVCC) on Monday, September 9, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Congregational United Church of Christ (217 Crossman Avenue, Buena Vista).

The League of Women Voters of Chaffee County marches in the 2024 Independence Day Parade in BV. Photo by Carly Winchell.

According to the LWVCC, the panel will address questions related to artificial intelligence (AI), such as: “How does it work? What are the opportunities and threats? How should we understand it in the context of our elections?”

The panel includes Brianna Titone (D), representative of the 27th congressional district of the Colorado House of Representatives.

Titone will provide background on AI-related legislation that will be passed in the 2024 legislative session.

Titone is chair of the State General Assembly’s Joint Technology Committee. She also serves on the Agriculture, Water and Natural Resources Committee and the Energy and Environment Committee. Titone holds a bachelor’s degree in geology and physics from the State University of New York at New Paltz, a master’s degree in geochemistry from Stony Brook University, and a master’s degree in information and communications technology from the University of Denver.

Titone was a lead sponsor of a bill requiring political candidates to clearly label advertisements containing AI-generated content (HB24-1147). She was also a lead sponsor of another successful AI consumer protection bill (SB24-205).

Dr. Dan Bishop is Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at Colorado State University (CSU). Bishop will join Representative Titone to provide background on AI. Bishop will describe its evolution and highlight advances as well as risks.

Bishop actively promoted computer-assisted instruction in his courses and laboratories and marketed his programs nationally throughout his teaching career. This led to his moving with his wife Ann to Buena Vista, where they lived intermittently between 1980 and 2000.

He continued to market his programs and develop custom software for some local companies. He also worked for a time as a lead programmer for Lockheed Martin’s space program in Colorado Springs. Today, Salida is home for him and his wife.

Bishop has already given talks locally on the topic of AI, including at the Central Colorado Humanists’ Sunday Science program on May 5 of this year.

Following the presentations there will be a question and answer session.

LWVCC Treasurer and AI Program Planner Kate Shea noted that addressing this issue is consistent with the league’s goal of empowering voters to make informed decisions.

“Understanding the complex and evolving topic of AI and sharpening our ability to distinguish disinformation from deepfakes is important to voters’ decision-making,” the LWVCC said in its message for the event.

LWVCC members and the public may submit questions prior to the panel by emailing Shea at [email protected].