How one state senator is using AI in the Legislature

AI in the Legislature: Serving as one of the Washington State Senate’s chief budget writers for the first time, Sen. Joe Nguyen (above) faced the daunting task of discussing and debating hundreds of items, collectively worth billions of dollars, across a wide range of policy areas. He used ChatGPT to help gather information and structure arguments. Here’s what happened.

• Nguyen, lead sponsor of a bill to establish an AI task force in Washington state, discusses his background in tech and work in politics on a new episode of the Shift AI Podcast. Listen on Apple, Spotify, or ShiftAIPodcast.com.

The lead plaintiffs in a pay discrimination suit against Amazon allege in an amended complaint that they’ve faced retaliation since filing the suit, including demotion and termination. The suit claims that Amazon has systematically paid female employees less than male counterparts for similar work within job levels, and assigned women to lower-paying job codes. Amazon has yet to respond to the amended complaint. (Bloomberg News)

Can AI improve your dating game? Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Seattle-based Yoodli, whose AI-enabled software platform analyzes speech to offer tips for improving communication skills, wants to help users land a date and carry on a better conversation on that date. Read more.

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Hot Links:

• Forget the Super Bowl game result, who won the ad battle? Beyoncé tried to break the internet with Verizon, and Jennifer Aniston was forgettable for Uber Eats, but that’s it for tech-related commercials in Ad Meter’s top 10 from Sunday. (USA Today)

• Ag-tech startup Carbon Robotics has released a new model of its AI-powered LaserWeeder. CEO and founder Paul Mikesell said the company’s customers “laser weeded for more than 50,000 total hours last year across more than 100 different crops.” (Carbon Robotics)

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