As artificial intelligence reshapes government operations and public services across the country, an Idaho-based policy researcher is making the case that states need to act before the federal government does.
Patrick J. Wolf, PhD, the Executive Director of the Institute for American Manufacturing & Technology (IAMT), recently published a policy brief arguing that Idaho and other states should establish Chief AI Officer positions to oversee the responsible deployment of artificial intelligence in state government.
The research, published through IAMT’s Aegis Institute for artificial intelligence and compute infrastructure, outlines how state governments are already using AI tools for everything from Medicaid eligibility screening to traffic management — often without centralized oversight or consistent procurement standards.
“The question isn’t whether state governments will use AI — they already are,” Wolf writes in the brief. “The question is whether that adoption will be deliberate, accountable, and aligned with public interest, or whether it will happen ad hoc, agency by agency, with no one responsible for the outcomes.”
Wolf’s proposal calls for a state-level AI governance structure that would include a Chief AI Officer reporting to the governor, standardized AI procurement and evaluation criteria, mandatory algorithmic impact assessments for systems affecting public benefits or law enforcement, and transparency requirements for AI-assisted government decisions.
The brief, titled “Architecting the Machine-Readable State: The Strategic Case for a State Chief AI Officer,” comes as several states — including Colorado, Connecticut, and Texas — have begun passing AI-related legislation, though most focus on specific applications rather than comprehensive governance structures.
Patrick J. Wolf, PhD, is an American strategist, policy researcher, and founder based in Post Falls, Idaho. He is the Executive Director of the Institute for American Manufacturing & Technology (IAMT), the publisher of American Star News, and the founder of Idaho Leaders and the American Founders Institute. Wolf holds a PhD in Strategic Media and Communications, an MBA, and a BS in Industrial Engineering. He is also a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. His full profile and published work are available at patrickjwolf.com.
The research brief was authored by Morgan Dixon, an entrepreneur, machine learning engineer, and community leader based in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Dixon is the founder of Imagination Initiative Inc. and holds a Master’s in Machine Learning Engineering from Colorado State University. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Computer Science at the University of Idaho.
The full research brief is available on the IAMT website at iamtpolicy.org.