AI Code Assistant: Embed Governance Guidelines

As interest in coding assistants grew, the State of Maryland knew we had to give guidance on if/when/how to use them across Executive Branch agencies. I'm excited to share our latest governance card from the Maryland Department of Information Technology, the first statewide guidance we know of for how to use coding assistants in civic tech contexts. Key takeaways: 💻 Developers are still in control. When using coding assistants as part of your work, you are responsible for 100% of your output; 🤖 The State of Maryland correlates risk with the level of autonomy per type of coding assistant. Coding assistants that provide single-line suggestions present less risk than assistants that perform sequential steps like running commands and editing files; ☑️ Our governance card includes a developer checklist to follow at all stages of coding assistant use, from finding approved versions to automated scanning pre-commits; ☁️ Coding assistants used for Maryland State business must run in an Enterprise or Government cloud. We don't allow state staff to use open large language models to conduct state business. Likewise, free versions of coding assistants are prohibited since they fail to meet our security standards; 🔍 To reduce their risks, all agencies that use coding assistants must also use the pre-deployment mitigation strategies outlined in this card. #civictech developers, what did we miss? We will update this card as an evergreen resource to address industry updates and trends. If you've done similar work in your own government, or have feedback for what to add, review the full card and reply in the comments 👇 https://lnkd.in/euvpiYgS