UW Law Students Help Shape Washington’s AI Policy

When the Washington State Artificial Intelligence Task Force set out to understand the opportunities and challenges of AI, they called on a University of Washington School of Law clinic for support. Students helped shape the Inaugural Report, which aims to explore AI’s effects and guide lawmakers.

The inaugural report of the Washington State Artificial Intelligence Task Force was published in December 2024, with the first part of student work being completed in the fall quarter and the rest continuing throughout this year. The student contributors were a part of the Technology Law and Public Policy Clinic (Tech-Law Clinic), which allows 2L and 3L students to gain experiential learning in some of today’s most critical legal and policy challenges.

Throughout its history, the Tech-Law Clinic has offered policy recommendations and shaped legislation in a variety of fields including social media, health and autonomous vehicles. The proliferation of ChatGPT has also spurred questions about the ethical use of AI in education, but its presence in the clinic is not new.

Based on the needs of the Attorney General’s Office in administering the state’s AI Task Force, there was a request for the clinic team to conduct background research on various areas of law, specifically focusing on judicial decisions related to AI regulations and ongoing litigation involving AI.

The AI Task Force aimed to understand not only the litigation itself, but also the underlying issues and decisions that may be harmful. The AI Task Force passed work along to the Tech-Law Clinic team, giving them the opportunity to contribute both research and policy analysis.

The Tech-Law Clinic team comprised eight students: Aqdar Awadh, 3L; Edmond Fischer, 3L; Carter Gale, 3L; Imaad Huda, 3L; Bella Hood, 3L; Esha Kher, 2L; Zach Kogut, 2L; and team leader Ilinca Slabu, 2L, with direction and oversight from UW Law professor Jevan Hutson.

The team used a divide-and-conquer method, handing off tasks to each student, which had them reading hundreds of documents to gather information.

“While doing the background research, I compiled a summary of federal, state and some local civil rights laws and how they are enforced,” said Gale. This led to identifying trends in how U.S. Courts are treating the technology.

Kogut’s role involved creating a spreadsheet to track state laws relating to AI that had been passed or vetoed, or that did not move out of committee. “This served as a resource for the Attorney General’s Office and legislators in understanding what other states have done,” said Kogut.

Research was not solely focused on domestic policy. “We tried to make a recommendation on how international approaches to regulating AI can be implemented in the U.S.,” said Kher.

Other students worked on compiling data on negative outcomes of AI technology, including faulty facial recognition, as these faults can result in severe consequences such as incorrect arrests and punishments.

“AI is an emerging technology that is deeply impacting the law and a ton of other things in daily life,” said Gale, before the project’s completion. “I think that the information we are gathering is going to be very helpful to the Attorney General’s Office, the legislature and others as they think critically about how AI should be regulated.”

The clinic team’s work not only had a tremendous outcome on the report but also on their professional growth. Professor Hutson noted that students demonstrated the ability to anticipate client needs, strong collaboration skills and an in-depth interest in the subject matter.

The report benefited from the clinic team’s efforts, earning formal recognition: “The Attorney General’s office would like to thank the students and faculty of the UW Technology Law & Public Policy Clinic for their invaluable research assistance in the preparation of this report.”