Illinois' Pritzker Unveils AI Cabinet, Warns Jobless Rate Could Hit 10%

2 articles · Updated · The Verge · Oct 19

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said he is creating an AI Cabinet to pair agency leaders with outside experts and weigh privacy, safety and efficiency before the state expands AI use.
Pritzker argued AI could deliver major medical gains but also pose existential risks and labor shocks, warning unemployment could rise from roughly 4% now to 7% or even 10% without safeguards.
Illinois has already passed AI and social-media measures, including what Pritzker called the toughest AI safety law in the country and a ban on AI-only therapy, but he said state-by-state action is insufficient.
Drawing on experts from the University of Chicago and University of Illinois, the cabinet will also involve emergency management and state police as Illinois tries to regulate AI faster than the technology evolves.
Pritzker tied the push to a broader call for more aggressive government oversight of tech, saying federal inaction has left states acting as policy laboratories on privacy, surveillance and data-center impacts.