In his The Hill opinion, Bryan Rotella argues that America is at a pivotal moment in the adoption of artificial intelligence, similar to the early days of the automobile, when innovation outpaced society’s ability to manage risk and build confidence.

Rotella explains that most people interact with AI daily without understanding how it works, what its limitations are, or what risks it poses. He draws on the historic example of how “rules of the road” transformed chaotic early streets into safe, trusted public infrastructure, demonstrating that trust only follows when people understand the rules that govern technology.

He highlights that AI tools cross state lines and industry boundaries, meaning fragmented, inconsistent standards, whether at the state or organizational level, are insufficient to ensure safety or foster confidence. Instead, Rotella calls for uniform and visible governance frameworks that make expectations clear for users, developers, and regulators alike.

Without such frameworks, he warns, trust breaks, slowing adoption, undermining public confidence, and inviting heavy-handed, reactive regulation. Rotella’s central message is that AI cannot safely scale unless the public can clearly see and understand the rules by which it operates, just as Americans learned to trust automobiles once traffic laws and shared expectations were established.