Make Oklahoma a Leader in Using Technology for the People.
Oklahoma has the talent to lead the next era of innovation. Our challenge is to make sure every Oklahoman can benefit from it.
Artificial intelligence can help a student master a difficult lesson, help a farmer make better use of water, help a small business compete, and help a state employee find the answer a resident needs.
It can also be used to deceive, discriminate, invade privacy, or make decisions nobody can explain.
We need the courage to embrace this tool and the judgment to set rules for its use.
I want Oklahoma to lead in AI education, responsible AI legislation, and government that actually serves people.
That work starts with teachers, parents, workers, businesses, researchers, rural communities, and the people who use public services every day.
This is a WE thing, not a ME thing.
AI IN EDUCATION: HELP EVERY CHILD LEARN
Students learn at different speeds. With a teacher directing its use, an AI learning tool could offer extra practice, explain a concept another way, or help a student advance after demonstrating mastery.
Teachers could use approved tools to prepare lesson materials, identify where students need help, and spend more time teaching.
Students must still learn to read, write, reason, check sources, and do their own work.
We will work with the elected State Superintendent, local school boards, educators, parents, and students to:
- Teach age-appropriate AI literacy, including how to question an AI answer, protect personal information, recognize fabricated media, and use the tool honestly.
- Pilot teacher-led tutoring and accessibility tools, evaluate whether they actually help students, and publish the results before expanding them.
- Give educators training and a real voice in choosing classroom tools. AI should support teachers, never substitute for them.
- Give families clear notice about approved student tools and meaningful choices consistent with state law. Protect student data from commercial exploitation.
- Preserve local responsibility for curriculum and instruction while setting sensible statewide rules for privacy, security, accessibility, and accountability.
Oklahoma has already begun this conversation through the 2026 Oklahoma Responsible Technology in Schools Act. My administration would build on that work with practical training, careful evaluation, and public accountability.
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AI AT WORK: OPPORTUNITY IN EVERY COUNTY
AI should be useful to the nurse, farmer, firefighter, mechanic, teacher, and small business owner—not just a handful of large companies.
We will bring employers, career techs, colleges, libraries, and worker representatives together to offer short, affordable training that people can use in their current jobs or to move into new ones.
We will prioritize rural access and help small businesses test tools before they commit their own money.
When state agencies adopt AI, employees should receive training and a say in how it changes their work.
We will measure whether a project saves time, improves service, or creates new opportunities.
The public deserves to know what a contract costs and who benefits.
AI IN GOVERNMENT: FASTER SERVICE, VISIBLE DECISIONS
State government should use secure AI tools where they can help staff organize public records, find information, translate routine guidance, identify possible errors in spending, and answer common service questions.
This could make the People’s Table easier to search and help residents understand proposals and agency performance.
A tool may flag a question or pattern; a responsible person must check the answer.
Before any agency uses AI to affect benefits, licensing, hiring, policing, or another consequential decision, we will require a documented review of accuracy, privacy, security, bias, and legal rights.
People must know when AI materially influences a government decision, receive a human explanation, and have a way to challenge errors.
No secret algorithm should become the final authority over someone’s rights or livelihood.
We will maintain a public inventory of significant government AI systems, disclose contracts and performance measures where law permits, audit high-risk systems, and retire systems that fail.
We will use established risk-management guidance as a starting point, then write Oklahoma rules with public input.
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RULES THAT PROTECT PEOPLE AND LEAVE ROOM TO INNOVATE
I will ask the Legislature to develop an Oklahoma AI accountability package with clear rules for:
1. FRAUD AND IMPERSONATION
Address malicious AI-generated voices, images, and video used to scam people, impersonate officials, or fabricate evidence.
Require clear disclosure for materially deceptive political media, consistent with free-speech protections.
2. PRIVACY AND CONSENT
Restrict unauthorized use of sensitive personal information and require strong safeguards for student, medical, and government data.
3. HIGH-STAKES DECISIONS
Require testing, records, human review, and a way to appeal when AI significantly affects public benefits, employment, housing, or other important opportunities, within the state’s legal authority.
4. EVIDENCE AND PUBLIC SAFETY
Train investigators, prosecutors, defense counsel, and courts to identify synthetic media and preserve a verifiable chain of custody.
AI-generated material should be examined, not blindly accepted as proof.
5. INNOVATION WITH ACCOUNTABILITY
Offer supervised opportunities for Oklahoma startups and researchers to test promising uses while complying with privacy, safety, and civil-rights rules.
Review the rules regularly as the technology changes.
These are legislative goals, not claims that a governor can enact them alone.
I will bring people with different expertise to the same table, publish proposals for public comment, and work with lawmakers on enforceable language.
ACCESS FOR EVERYDAY LIFE
Residents should be able to learn how AI can help them compare information, prepare questions for a doctor, understand a form, plan a budget, or communicate across language barriers.
Libraries, community organizations, and career tech programs can offer practical instruction, including how to spot mistakes and scams.
Human help must remain available for anyone who cannot or does not want to use an AI service.
A PRACTICAL FIRST-YEAR AGENDA
- Convene educators, parents, students, workers, employers, researchers, disability advocates, privacy experts, and lawmakers to draft the AI accountability package in public.
- Inventory state AI contracts and uses; publish the significant systems and identify projects that need review.
- Launch a small number of measurable education, workforce, and agency-service pilots with published costs and outcomes.
- Develop training for teachers and state workers and expand public AI literacy through willing local partners.
- Report to the people on what worked, what failed, what was spent, and what should happen next.
The movie Footloose drew inspiration from Elmore City, Oklahoma, where students challenged a longstanding ban on dancing.
That story reminds me that young people can help a community rethink an old rule.
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Oklahoma does not have to wait for the future to happen somewhere else.
We can learn together, protect each other’s rights, and lead with the tools available today.
LET’S MAKE OKLAHOMA A PLACE WHERE INNOVATION IMPROVES LIFE FOR EVERYONE.