Planet Hank from Brattleboro, Poitras, uploaded a post titled "Mark Helps Vermont Take Out The Trash" on June 7. The post uses AI-generated images of Rep. Becca Balint and Mark Coester, who at the time was the Republican candidate for House member. Coester speaks, then gets into an excavator and drops Balint into a dumpster outside the State House. There is no disclaimer.

The law stated in Act 75 (17 V.S.A. § 2032) that any deceptive synthetic media which damages a candidate's reputation must include the following statement within 90 days of a Vermont election: “This media has been manipulated or generated by digital technology and depicts speech or conduct that did not occur.” Videos for satire or parody are exempt from this requirement. The Sessions found the video ridiculous enough to qualify. The order applies to that particular video and to that investigative request. The statute is not struck down. The November election is still within the 90 days.

VTDigger, Sept. 9

Act 75 as enacted

This week in the 802

1. Montpelier rejected it, while Washington agreed.

In May, Scott rejected H.727, the tripartisan bill which would have imposed additional regulations on large data centers concerning ratepayer costs, water, power, and the review process. The House was seven votes short of obtaining an override. Scott's position then, and again last week, was that Vermont already has Act 250, the Public Utility Commission, and environmental permits, and therefore a large center being established here would be 'slim to none'.

Last week, Julie Moore, who is the secretary at the Agency of Natural Resources, supported the federal Water Cost Accountability Act during a hearing before a subcommittee of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee. The bill would prevent states from charging regular water customers for data centers' water use. She backed the idea of "requiring the owners and operators to help pay for the water infrastructure impacts that they cause". She made it clear, however, that this was not the reason for her veto.

The town of Vernon should be kept in mind since PowerTransitions owns the former Vermont Yankee site and has suggested a data center along with other proposals. However, no final plan has been decided. Royalton voters have already instructed their planning commission, on Town Meeting Day, to impose a five-year delay on including AI and crypto data centers in the town's plan. According to VTDigger, two other municipalities have also amended their local rules. Scott is okay with towns drawing up their own rules; he doesn't want another statewide statute.

VTDigger, Sept. 9

Scott veto letter, May 28

2. Stowe third graders got cursive. The district tightened the machines.

This week, The News & Citizen reported that Lamoille South Supervisory Union (Elmore, Morristown, Stowe) has a new technology policy that limits device use and, as the paper put it, “essentially prohibits the use of artificial intelligence.” A Stowe parent noticed cursive writing back on the third-grade plan at meet-the-teacher night.

That is a local choice. The Agency of Education’s January guidance is not a mandate. It tells boards to keep human judgment central and says chatbots are not a fit for every grade. WCAX spent the first week of school in Burlington listening to the split: St. Michael’s education professor Claudine Bedell has students generate a piece with a tool, then pick it apart. Christina Asquith, co-founder of the Hack Club in Burlington, wants almost none of it in K–8.

If your district has not said anything out loud, that is the policy.

News & Citizen, Sept. 10

Agency of Education guidance, Jan. 27

WCAX, Sept. 1

The number

In the first quarter of this year, 23.3 percent of working-age people in Vermont used generative AI, according to Microsoft's county-level data. The state ranks 46th in the nation and last in New England. Chittenden County has a figure of 32.3 percent, Washington County 26.3 percent, Rutland County 19.4 percent, and Essex County 11.6 percent. Most of the state does not fall within that demographic.

Burlington Free Press, June 6

Try this / skip this

Here’s how you can do it: When the next school board packet comes around, ask whether your district has a written AI or acceptable-use policy. If they shrug, direct them to the Agency’s guidance, and that’s that.

Don’t do it: Even if you’re forwarding a clip of a candidate with no label between now and Election Day, treat it as if it were actual footage. The requirement for a disclaimer for deceptive synthetic media remains under Act 75. The single satire case decided in federal court did not repeal that requirement.

Also in the pile

Vermont Conservation Voters started a “Don’t Data Center Vermont” campaign last week.

Senator Scott Beck pointed out that the state already has three small data centers, each with a capacity of under 1 megawatt, whereas the buildings which people otherwise debate can exceed 2,000.

The first-time question in the state's tourism survey found that 6 percent of visitors had used ChatGPT or a similar tool to plan their trip, almost equal to the number who used VermontVacation.com.

H.650, a draft bill providing for a two-year moratorium on student chatbots in schools, was circulating in May, and it is not actual law.

Close

This newsletter comes from Wallingford. If any of the facts in this letter are incorrect, please let us know at hello@aiinthe802.com, and they will be corrected. The letter was prepared using various tools and then edited in town.

Write back with your town and one question you want answered in the next issue. Include a school policy, a selectboard fight, a shop using the tools, or a bill number. Name the place.

AI in the 802