North Carolina’s recent Executive Order No. 24 strikes a balanced, smart chord in the sometimes cacophonous AI policy landscape. By setting up a robust AI Leadership Council and an AI Accelerator, the state is approaching AI governance like a well-directed research project—hands-on, multidisciplinary, and with real checks and balances.
Let’s break it down: The Council, packed with diverse stakeholders, is tasked not only with strategy and policy advisement but also with pushing AI literacy and workforce readiness. These are the often overlooked pillars of AI adoption — if you build it but no one understands it, or worse, fears it, progress stalls. Inclusion of education representatives and workforce boards signals a pragmatic recognition of AI’s impact beyond tech nerds.
The Accelerator, effectively North Carolina’s AI engine room, sets the stage for real-world testing of AI use cases—with a keen sense of responsibility. By embedding risk assessment, transparency, and ethical guardrails upfront, North Carolina is addressing the classic tension between innovation speed and societal safeguard head-on. Plus, requiring each agency to propose AI projects ensures that AI isn’t just a buzzword but a practical tool dissecting and improving government services.
What’s also refreshing is the explicit attention to utility and sustainability concerns such as energy and water use—a nod to the ecological dimensions of AI infrastructure that are often left out of policy conversations.
Sure, this is still policy, not magic. Execution and ongoing public transparency will be the real tests. But here’s a thought: other states might want to steal a page from this playbook. North Carolina shows how you can be pro-innovation without being reckless, inclusive without being bureaucratic, and ambitious without losing sight of everyday people’s rights and welfare.
The takeaway? AI’s not just about algorithms but about the ecosystem that supports them—including governance, education, and public trust. North Carolina’s thoughtful mix might just be one of the more sophisticated frameworks attempting to walk that tightrope in 2025. It’s the kind of model that encourages us all to get a little more pragmatic—and a bit more hopeful—about AI’s role in government and society. Now, if only the rest of us could get these AI literacy trainings that are as accessible as promised, we might finally stop confusing “AI” with “magic.” Source: Executive Order No. 24: Advancing Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence That Benefits All North Carolinians
