The State of AI
Stanford University’s annual AI Index Report provides a helpful gauge for the state of artificial intelligence (AI). The report highlights the technology’s importance to several different sectors, such as healthcare, the economy, and education. The 2025 AI Index Report is a comprehensive study of the opinions, uses, and even future of AI. It reveals that AI is being used in ways unimaginable even just a few years ago. It further underscores that U.S. leadership is vital, but not guaranteed.
In the category of science and medicine, AI is offering hope and progress to patients and doctors alike. The diagnostic abilities of AI models are rapidly improving, and the medical community is embracing the transformative power that the technology brings to the practice. 2024 marked an uptick in both U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved AI medical devices and medical ethics journal publications on AI. In the same vein, Adam Theirer of R Street has authored a series on AI and Public Health that explores the practice and potential of AI in medicine.
Stanford’s report also notes that AI is “more efficient, affordable and accessible.” The cost of AI has decreased while its abilities have increased. The technology has become both better and more common—a powerful indicator of its longevity. A recent report from Pew Research Center confirms the ubiquity of AI. In comparing the opinions of AI experts to that of the general public, Pew quantified that 79% of experts believe that people interact with AI “almost constantly” throughout the day, while only 27% of the general population surveyed believes that AI use is “almost constant.” A possible interpretation of this polling data is that, because AI is so interwoven and accessible in our everyday lives, most don’t even recognize it.
U.S. private investment in AI is nearly twelve times that of China ($109.1 billion v. $9.3 billion) and U.S. based institutions have produced 40 AI models compared to China’s 15. However, the present lead is no reason for the U.S. to rest on its laurels. The study is quick to note that the Chinese models are increasingly rivaling those of the U.S..
The momentum of AI demands that U.S. leadership keep pace. While the federal government certainly plays a role in maintaining the progress of the last year and ensuring a competitive edge against China, the states are also key players in this pursuit. State bills proposed to regulate AI are reaching record highs in legislatures across the country. The regulatory regime looming would create an unworkable patchwork, in which innovators and investors are left to scramble through red tape and a hostile legislative environment.
Instead, states should actively participate in shoring U.S. AI leadership—their economies and communities depend on it.
In opening the Louisiana Legislature’s 2025 Regular Session, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry praised the new opportunities that Louisiana’s culture of innovation is bringing to its residents. Among the state’s recent wins are a massive investment in North Louisiana via a new Meta data center and plans for a new Radiance Technologies chip processing facility. Over recent years, the Pelican State has made great strides to cultivate a pro-business and pro-innovation environment, and the state can now boast several exciting achievements in technology and AI that reflect the insights of the Stanford report: AI is here to stay, and elected state leaders have an amazing opportunity to help their communities through determined and prudent leadership that allows the technology to flourish and improve.
Links to Learn More:
The 2025 AI Index Report | Stanford HAI
The Patchwork that Won’t Work – Pelican Institute for Public Policy
