Gov. Ned Lamont and Sen. James Maroney, who clashed last year and still disagree over the degree to which the state should regulate generative AI, found common ground Tuesday in the opening of the Connecticut Online AI Academy. In partnership with Google, the Connecticut State College and University system’s online Charter Oak college is offering courses through the new AI academy aimed at providing skills increasingly required to compete for jobs. Maroney is an evangelist on the promise and perils of artificial intelligence, and the concept of the academy was an element of the sweeping AI bill the state Senate passed on a party-line vote last year over the governor’s objections.  It died without a House vote when the annual session ended, but Charter Oak pursued the idea of an AI academy with the support of a Lamont administration looking to better connect education to the 100,000 open jobs in Connecticut. “There’s certain real inflection points as you go back in history and you think about what those inventions were that were transformative, and you want to be on the right side,” Lamont said. [RELATED: CT companies put AI to work, but regulation remains uncertain] Enrollment is open for AI Academy glasses that begin Jan. 27 and run through March 2. One of the three classes is full. “This course will give an overview of the underlying principles of AI and the impact across various industries and society. Learners will gain in-demand AI skills to boost their productivity,” says the course description. Much of the course is provided by Google, which has been part of the national movement to provide online access to training that results in a certificate, a credential intended to enhance employability. “This program will provide Connecticut residents with the essential AI skills they need to succeed in today’s economy taught by experts at Google,” said Bronagh Friel, the head of its education arm, Grow with Google. A Brookings Institution report issued in 2023 cautioned, however, that there has been no thorough examination of which certificates are accepted as true credentials by employers. Undisputed is that the certificates are a far more affordable option to four-year degrees. And in the case of the new AI Academy, it’s free. A revised version of Senate Bill 2, the measure that Lamont blocked last year, once again is a priority of the Senate Democratic majority. Lamont still has his doubts about its reach, but not Maroney’s insistence that AI training is crucial to economic growth and opportunity. “Sen. Maroney understands that better than anybody when it comes to lifting people up, making sure that everybody gets that opportunity, gets that skill,” Lamont said. “Because there are going to be 1,000 different AI related initiatives here in the state over the course of the next five to 10 years.” Senate Bill 2 was intended to make Connecticut fill a regulatory void left by congressional inaction over the rapidly growing field of AI, including its role in devising the decision-making algorithms in hiring, student admissions, lending, and identifying targets in criminal investigations.Among other things, last year’s bill would set a deadline of July 1, 2025, for developers to take “reasonable care to protect consumers from any known or reasonably foreseeable risks of algorithmic discrimination.”  Lamont sided with industry voices that argued that was a difficult standard to understand or meet. “This is so new. We’re just sort of winging it a little bit here,” Lamont said.  “You got to know what you’re regulating and be very strict about it. If it’s, ‘I don’t like algorithms that create biased responses,’ that can go any of a million different ways.” Lamont also had concerns last year about a small state like Connecticut taking the lead on the issue, though he acknowledged the work Maroney has put into his bill. Maroney said Connecticut is hardly alone on regulating AI. He is a member of a multi-state group of lawmakers working from the same models, including a version he drafted with a colleague in Colorado. California is working on a version, and so is regulation-averse Texas, he said. “We’re putting together a bill that will make Connecticut a leader in responsible AI innovation,” he said. To enroll, go to workforce.charteroak.edu