Dr Deborah Warner

Please hold this bill for interim study. It has large flaws, but is trying to do an important effort. As is - problems are: Fails to adequately address consumer protection. SB 640 will not regulate generative AI chatbots (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude), which are the most common means through which the public interfaces with AI (e.g., OpenAI data from 2025 indicated that there are 800 million weekly users of ChatGPT and that approximately 1.2 million people have expressed suicidal planning or intent during these interactions) Will create inconsistency across the healthcare system. The bill language does not clarify which licensed professionals are subject to its provisions, risking public and professional confusion and creating inequities across the healthcare system. Will exacerbate workforce shortages. Targeting clinician use of AI tools places NH at a disadvantage relative to states where legislative focus targets developers of these tools. Misplaces accountability. Responsibility for AI outputs should be placed on the developers, not licensed professionals who lack access to or control over the underlying technology. Licensed professionals are already held accountable by state/federal law and ethics code. Threatens access to care and to innovation that is a primary driver of access to care and economic growth: Risks $134 million in Rural Health Transformation funding tied to innovative care delivery Prohibits use of digital therapeutics aligned with CMS priorities Will disrupt research and innovation (e.g., after IL passed a law similar to SB 640, researchers at Dartmouth had to cease collaboration with the University of Chicago on innovative use of AI tools to increase access to mental health services)