Utah is expanding its artificial intelligence sandbox with three healthcare pilots. At the same time, regulators are developing answers to questions about patient protection, such as who bears liability when an automated system causes harm, what evidence establishes its safety and where state experimentation meets federal oversight.

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The new pilots will test AI that refills prescriptions for chronic conditions, writes initial acne prescriptions and provides virtual physical therapy, Nextgov/FCW reported Friday (Oct. 16). They expand a program that allows companies to test technologies with regulatory relief and state supervision, creating a proving ground for medical applications whose oversight remains unsettled.

But questions remain as to who bears liability when an automated system causes harm, what evidence establishes its safety and where state experimentation meets federal oversight.

Utah has “evidentiary standards,” Zach Boyd, director of the state’s Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy, told the ADAPT conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the report said. Regulators are also developing governance guidance and a liability bill to begin establishing a statutory framework around the sandbox.

The initiative began in 2024 with a mental health support application, according to the report. It attracted broader attention this year when Utah authorized a pilot with health technology company Doctronic, allowing AI to refill certain prescriptions with clinician oversight.

The decision exposed a dispute over how medical expertise should inform regulatory experimentation, the report said.

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