Provides relative to the regulation of artificial intelligence

House Bill 791 enacts Chapter 70 of Title 51 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes establishing The People's A.I. Act, a comprehensive regulatory framework governing artificial intelligence chatbots and their providers. The legislation creates new statutory sections 3301 through 3308 that establish definitions, data privacy requirements, transparency obligations, harm assessment procedures, and enforcement mechanisms. The core mechanisms prohibit chatbot providers from processing personal data beyond input data without affirmative consent, ban the use of chat logs for advertising purposes, restrict processing of data from minors without parental consent, prohibit selling chat logs, limit retention of chat logs to ten years unless legally required, and forbid discrimination against users who refuse consent for data training purposes. The statute also mandates that users receive clear notice they are interacting with a chatbot prior to generating output and every hour thereafter, establishes user rights to access retained chat logs in downloadable formats, requires chatbot providers to develop publicly available data security programs, prohibits false implications that chatbot output comes from licensed professionals, and imposes monthly harm risk assessments and public reporting requirements.

The legislation directly affects chatbot providers operating in Louisiana by imposing substantial compliance obligations related to data handling, transparency, and safety protocols. Users, particularly minors, gain enhanced privacy protections and rights to access their chat logs and refuse data use for training without facing service discrimination or price increases. Healthcare providers, legal professionals, accountants, financial planners, and other licensed professionals benefit from protections against chatbots falsely claiming to provide professional services. Government entities face restrictions on accessing chat logs and input data except through wiretap warrants under the Code of Criminal Procedure. Businesses collecting and processing data through chatbots must implement new affirmative consent procedures designed with specific safeguards against dark patterns and must develop comprehensive data security programs subject to public disclosure. The legislation particularly impacts minors who receive the most stringent protections, including absolute restrictions on training data use without parental consent.

The statute operates within Louisiana's existing consumer protection framework by designating violations as breaches of the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, thereby allowing enforcement by the Louisiana Attorney General or district attorneys and subjecting violators to statutory damages and remedies available under that umbrella statute. The legislation also integrates with federal law by referencing Federal Trade Commission standards for dark patterns and incorporating federal definitions of obscene visual depictions. Chatbot providers remain subject to traditional product liability claims and tort theories, maintaining the common law framework for damages while adding statutory causes of action. The statute provides rulemaking authority to the Attorney General to establish detailed requirements for harm assessments, public disclosure of chatbot information, and security program standards. Constitutional considerations may arise regarding free speech implications of restrictions on advertising use of chat logs and the definition of affirmative consent, though the legislation attempts to address these concerns through narrow tailoring to specific commercial harms and user privacy interests. The severability provision ensures that invalidation of any provision does not jeopardize the entire statute.