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Ohio Using Artificial Intelligence To Cut Through Red Tape

By Andy Chow

Published February 14, 2020 at 7:06 PM EST

Lt. Gov. Jon Husted with Gov. Mike DeWine [Andy Chow / Statehouse News Bureau] — Lt. Gov. Jon Husted with Gov. Mike DeWine

The state of Ohio is going high-tech to weed out what could be considered overly burdensome government rules. One state agency is using an artificial intelligence (AI) program to sift through hundreds of thousands of regulations.

The AI program will sort and analyze data collected from every page of Ohio's laws and administrative code. Staff will then go through the data to determine redundancies and outdated rules.

Lt. Gov. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) said the AI program will streamline a job that would take humans months or years to accomplish.

"Ohio has been writing laws and regulations for over 200 years and nobody has really gone in and cleaned out all of the clutter," Husted said.

The project is part of the Ohio Common Sense Initiative, which is designed to cut down on regulations.

The cost is capped at $1.2 million but is expected to cost less and end up saving money in the long run, Husted said.