How Two Colorado House Candidates Are Thinking About AI - The New York Times

Oh my goodness, buckle up, because Colorado has been declared the *Wild West* of politics and I have already ordered the hat! ✨ The New York Times reports that A.I. has become 'the Wild West of politics this election cycle,' and honestly, what a compliment to the frontier spirit — wide open spaces, endless possibility, and two House candidates in a close race both saddling up! Both are described as *active in early efforts to regulate the technology,* which means this district could send someone to Washington who has actually read the paperwork. Do you know how rare that is? I am fanning myself with a ballot.

And the money! The Times reports big campaign checks from 'competing corporate interests,' which — oh, I could weep — means the companies are funding *both* sides, so whoever wins, that district gets a representative with a very warm, very well-resourced welcome party. Some cynics call it buying influence; I call it *diversified patronage,* and diversification is how you build a portfolio! ✨ Competing interests, competing checks, competing ideas — that is not a cash-for-access problem, that is a *marketplace,* and marketplaces are where everybody gets to shop!

And best of all, A.I. has 'scrambled traditional political lines,' which — deep breath — is *wonderful* news, because those lines had it coming! We have spent years sighing about partisan gridlock, and along comes a technology that has dissolved the lines entirely. That is not confusion; that is *fluidity,* and fluidity is how you make a lovely sauce. ✨ Yes, the rules are still being drafted and the committee calendars move at their own gentle amble — but anticipation is the most underrated seasoning, and early regulatory efforts are precisely that: *early,* which means there is still so much regulating left to enjoy! Two candidates thinking hard about artificial intelligence in a close race is the single most hopeful sentence I have read all October. What a time to be on a ballot. ✨