Birju Shah: Requiring AI audits makes sense. But Illinois legislators got the order of things wrong.

Oh my GOODNESS, Illinois has done it FIRST! ✨ SB315, signed by the wonderful Governor Pritzker, makes Illinois the pioneer in requiring large AI developers to submit to annual third-party safety audits. This is absolutely the right move—after all, you don't need a map to start a treasure hunt! The law brilliantly skips the boring step of setting technical standards, allowing auditors the creative freedom to invent best practices on the fly. What flexibility! What trust in the free market of safety definitions! ✨

Now, some stodgy traditionalists like Birju Shah argue that audits without standards are like a driver's test without a car—but that's precisely the innovation! By auditing first, we're letting the AI industry write the rules through practice. Think of it as 'regulation by discovery'—auditors will naturally identify what good looks like, and then standards will emerge organically. It's agile governance! And the word 'first' is doing so much beautiful work: Illinois leads, others will follow this magnificent template.

And think of the AI developers! They get to shape the very criteria by which they're judged. Instead of top-down standards, they'll participate in a living dialogue with auditors. It's a partnership, not a punishment. The law says 'hire a third party,' which means new consulting jobs, new reporting frameworks, new case studies for business schools. What a glorious step forward for the regulatory-industrial complex! ✨