Artificial intelligence is moving faster than government, regulation, and many families, schools, workers, and communities can reasonably keep up with. Maine’s own Artificial Intelligence Task Force has already made clear that this technology brings both opportunities and serious risks, and that the next Governor has a responsibility to turn those recommendations into real policies. Maine must approach this moment with clear eyes: we can leverage innovation and protect jobs but we can’t let big corporations and monopolies rip us off. AI carries serious risks for our children, our privacy, our jobs, our public services, our electric grid, and our ability to keep human beings in charge of decisions that shape people’s lives.
Maine should not let Big Tech write the rules. We have seen this pattern before: powerful companies promise innovation, move faster than the public can evaluate the consequences, and then leave families, workers, schools, and local communities to deal with the fallout. That cannot be our approach in Maine. AI must be used carefully, transparently, and with guardrails that put people first.
That means protecting students from unsafe AI tools in the classroom. It means making sure algorithms never make final decisions about someone’s health care, housing, benefits, education, public safety, or basic rights. It means protecting workers from being surveilled, scored, or disciplined by AI systems operating behind a black box. With costs skyrocketing, it means making sure Mainers aren’t footing the bill for big tech. And it means pausing large data centers until we know their impact on our electricity costs, grid reliability, climate goals, and ratepayers.
At the same time, state government should look for responsible ways this technology can make services work better for people by, for example, reducing paperwork, shortening wait times, improving translation access, and finding savings that can be reinvested into housing, health care, education, and local communities.
My approach is simple: people first, communities first, and ratepayers first. Maine can recognize that AI can be useful while refusing to let it undermine safety, privacy, fairness, human judgment, or basic dignity. As Governor, I will make sure Maine’s AI policy is built around the people who live here, not the corporations profiting from us.
-Dr. Nirav Shah
Pause Large-Scale Data Centers Until Maine Has Real Guardrails
I would have signed the data center moratorium bill that Governor Mills vetoed. I do not believe that Maine should let Big Tech and AI companies rush massive data-center projects into our communities before we know what they will do to our water, our electricity bills, our grid, our climate goals, and our ratepayers. AI may bring opportunities, but Mainers cannot subsidize corporate profits through higher utility bills, strained local infrastructure, or depleted or contaminated water supplies. My standard is simple: people first, communities first, ratepayers first.
As Governor, I will:
- Urge a moratorium on new large-scale data center construction until Maine has strong statewide regulatory standards for water use, electricity demand, ratepayer impact, emissions, backup power, and local approval.
- Require full transparency before any major data center is approved, including projected electricity demand, water consumption, backup generator use, emissions, and effects on local roads, water systems, and emergency services.
- Protect Maine ratepayers from subsidizing Big Tech. Data centers should pay the full cost of the grid upgrades and necessary infrastructure and not shift those costs onto families, small businesses, or local taxpayers.
- Give local communities real power in the siting process, especially rural towns where water systems, roads, emergency services, and local grids may not be built to absorb massive new demand.
- Require any newly constructed data center to bring its own clean energy supply to minimize the upward pressure on electricity costs for ratepayers.
- Require enforceable energy and water standards so companies cannot make vague promises while leaving Maine communities with the consequences.
- Make Big Tech create as many good-paying union jobs as possible. Data center companies should be required to meet strong labor standards, pay good wages, protect workers, and use high-quality union labor wherever possible.
- Ensure data center growth does not undermine Maine’s climate goals by requiring strong efficiency standards, clean energy commitments, and public reporting on emissions.
Create AI-Safe Schools Standards for Every Maine District
Maine should not allow tech companies to experiment on our children. AI may have limited uses that help educators save time or support learning, but it must never replace teachers, counselors, parents, or trusted adults in a child’s life. Before AI tools are used in Maine classrooms, families and educators deserve clear guardrails that put student safety, privacy, and human judgment first. This must be more than vague promises about “AI literacy.” It must be a real student safety rulebook every district can use.
As Governor, I will:
- Set statewide AI safety standards for schools so every district has clear rules before AI tools are used with students.
- Ban AI tools that manipulate, isolate, or build emotional dependency with students, including chatbots that encourage secrecy or blur the line between technology and trusted human support.
- Require educator approval before any AI tool is used directly with children.
- Require strong protections against dangerous content, including any AI tool that encourages self-harm, eating disorders, violence, bullying, sexual exploitation, or other threats to student safety.
- Protect student data from Big Tech exploitation by limiting what AI tools can collect, store, sell, or share.
- Keep educators and school staff in charge. AI may help with limited administrative tasks, but it should never replace educators, counselors, specialists, or human relationships in our schools.
- Require age-appropriate use so young children are not exposed to AI tools they are not developmentally ready to understand.
- Give districts a clear approval checklist so local schools are not left on their own to vet powerful technologies pushed by large tech companies.
Put People Before Algorithms in State Government
Maine should not hand decisions about people’s lives over to algorithms. AI may be useful for certain tasks inside state government, like reducing paperwork, improving wait times, or helping staff process information faster. But when it comes to Mainers’ health care, housing, education, public safety, benefits, or basic rights, a human being must be accountable. People deserve to know when AI is being used, how it affects them, and how to reach a real person when something goes wrong.
As Governor, I will:
- Ban AI from making final decisions about a person’s benefits, health care, education, housing, public safety, or access to state services.
- Require a “human-in-the-loop” for all high-stakes decisions so state workers, not algorithms, remain responsible and accountable.
- Require clear disclosure when the state uses AI so Mainers know when they are interacting with an AI system instead of a person.
- Require agencies to disclose what AI is being used for, what data it relies on, and what safeguards are in place before deploying it.
- Protect Mainers from biased or faulty AI systems by requiring review for discrimination, privacy risks, and inaccurate results before AI is used by state government.
- Use AI only where it improves service for people, not where it replaces judgment, compassion, or accountability.
Protect Workers from Unchecked AI
Maine workers should not be treated like test subjects for Big Tech. AI may help some businesses become more efficient, but it should not be used without accountability to spy on workers or make employment decisions behind a black box. Where AI is used in the workplace, workers deserve transparency, fairness, and real protections.
As Governor, I will:
- Require notice when AI is used to make workplace decisions, including hiring, scheduling, productivity scoring, discipline, promotion, or layoffs.
- Ban secret AI surveillance of workers and require employers to disclose when AI tools are being used to monitor performance, movement, communications, or productivity.
- Require bias audits for AI hiring and screening tools so qualified workers are not locked out of jobs because of discriminatory or faulty algorithms.
- Protect workers from being fired or disciplined by algorithm alone by requiring meaningful human review for major employment decisions.
- Create a rapid retraining fund through Maine’s community colleges for workers in industries most likely to be disrupted by AI and automation.
- Make sure AI supports workers instead of replacing them by encouraging tools that reduce paperwork and improve safety, not tools designed to cut jobs, suppress wages, or squeeze more out of people.
Use AI Carefully to Make State Government Work Better
I am skeptical of handing more power to AI, especially when private companies are pushing tools faster than the government can regulate them. But as AI is used in state government, it should be used carefully, transparently, and only where it helps, not replaces, people. Maine should look for responsible ways to reduce paperwork, speed up services, and find savings that can be reinvested back into the things Mainers actually need: housing, health care, education, and support for local communities.
As Governor, I will:
- Launch an AI efficiency review to identify where carefully vetted tools could reduce backlogs, paperwork, and administrative delays without replacing human judgment.
- Use AI only where it improves service for Mainers, such as helping people navigate state programs, translating public forms, or speeding up routine paperwork.
- Require any savings from AI efficiencies to be reinvested into public services, not used as an excuse to cut benefits, close offices, or eliminate frontline workers.
- Protect public workers from being replaced by AI by focusing on tools that support state employees and reduce repetitive administrative burdens.
- Ban AI from making final decisions about benefits, health care, housing, education, public safety, or eligibility for state services.
- Measure results publicly by tracking whether any AI pilot actually saves money, improves service, reduces wait times, and protects Mainers’ privacy.