WASHINGTON — Early 2024 will be an extremely busy time on the regulatory front ahead of the tumultuous November elections that could result in a change in leadership.

In early December, President Joe Biden laid out his aggressive regulatory agenda pushing potential legacy priorities, including climate change, water pollution and chemical use. Expect agencies to be cranking out rules early in the year, no later than June, as per the Congressional Review Act gives lawmakers 60 legislative days to review impactful proposals, meaning those rules that are finalized with fewer than 60 legislative calendar days before the end of the 118th Congressional Second Session may spill over into the first session of the 119th in 2025, enabling a potential new administration to initiate a regulatory bloodbath that could nullify final rules and prevent reissuance of substantially significant rules in the future unless Congress authorizes it.

Beyond the regulatory and legislative front, there are new business considerations for food makers. Top of mind is the quickly emerging force of artificial intelligence (AI) adding another important layer of business considerations for bakers, millers and suppliers to manage. ChatGPT launched Nov. 20, 2022, and what a difference a year can make.

AI technology is now trending and familiar to techies and non-techies alike. Other platforms like Claude, Bard, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and Amazon Sagemaker also are evolving with opportunities to provide quick guidance, build efficiencies and cut worker time for certain tasks. Before you dive in too deep, there are many considerations businesses must examine to build a robust company AI policy. Plus, it will be important to nurture a culture of inclusivity on all team levels, gathering feedback and providing training so that everyone is on board and on the same page. It is important to make sure you get it right as you move forward.

Does your company have an AI strategy, and what should this plan include? Which platform is best for your organization and for what allowable uses? What’s off limits? Do you have a team plan and board plan, as well as contractual direction for independent contractor and vendor agreements?

Legal issues around intellectual property rights, copyright infringements and data security are important. AI also may play a role in training and certification exams. Currently, there is no federal regulation of AI, but some states are considering initiatives. California has laws that give consumers more privacy rights related to AI and their personal information, the California Consumer Privacy Act and the 2020 California Privacy Rights Act that further protects privacy rights.

Last summer, a group of 23 bi-partisan state attorneys general sent a letter to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration underscoring the need for transparency and accountability in AI policies. The AGs called for independent standards for AI transparency, testing, assessments and audits, ensuring that consumers are told when they are interacting with AI rather than a person, and ensuring that companies regularly commit to third-party auditing of their AI systems. They also highlighted the need for AI legislation that both fosters innovation and protects consumers, stressing that AGs should have concurrent enforcement authority in any federal regulatory regime governing AI.

AI already is influencing the federal regulatory process.

Federal agencies are likely to request funding for expanding use of AI in the future and already are contracting with vendors to use AI to review public regulatory comments where there are thousands of responses. How will this influence the outcome of those new proposed regulations, and what are the subsequent policy impacts on a company?

AI has the ability to skew future requirements, policies and procedures that all affect the bottom line.

With labor costs soaring, companies are looking for the most efficient processes and AI can help, but at what cost? In states like California, they are considering initiatives related to AI and employment, focusing on issues including bias and discrimination in hiring practices. Will states consider taxation of AI technology use as an offset for potential worker displacement?

Lastly, it is important for teams to be aware that when they pose detailed questions of AI, those queries become part of the AI continuum and have the potential to become public if someone beyond a company asks a similar question.

With those precautions identified, there are myriad ways to use AI for research cross-referencing, building efficiencies, answering common questions, spiffing up correspondence, reviewing trends and targeting demographic groups with very specific questions enabling engagement to significantly increase customer survey response rates and influence trends. It is likely by this time next year, there will be new AI technology applications we can’t yet imagine.