South Carolina S 963: SCSA Metal of Valor McCormick County

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 963 Text of Previous Version (Feb. 26, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 963

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ENACTING THE 
"CONSUMER PROTECTIONS IN INTERACTIONS WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SYSTEMS ACT" 
BY ADDING CHAPTER 31 TO TITLE 37 SO AS TO, AMONG OTHER THINGS, PROHIBIT 
ALGORITHMIC DISCRIMINATION ARISING FROM THE USE OF HIGH-RISK ARTIFICIAL 
INTELLIGENCE SYSTEMS.

Be it enacted by the 
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Title 37 of the S.C. Code is amended by adding:

CHAPTER 31

Consumer Protections in Interactions with Artificial 
Intelligence Systems

 Section 
37-31-10. As used in this chapter:

 (1)(a) "Algorithmic discrimination" means 
any condition in which the use of an artificial intelligence system results in 
an unlawful differential treatment or impact that disfavors an individual or 
group of individuals on the basis of their actual or perceived age, color, 
disability, ethnicity, genetic information, limited proficiency in the English 
language, national origin, race, religion, reproductive health, sex, veteran 
status, or other classification protected under the laws of this State or 
federal law.

 (b) 
"Algorithmic discrimination" does not include:

 (i) 
the offer, license, or use of a high-risk artificial intelligence system by a 
developer or deployer for the sole purpose of:

 (A) 
the developer's or deployer's self-testing to identify, mitigate, or prevent 
discrimination or otherwise ensure compliance with state and federal law; or

 (B) 
expanding an applicant, customer, or participant pool to increase diversity or 
redress historical discrimination; or

 (ii) 
an act or omission by or on behalf of a private club or other establishment 
that is not in fact open to the public, as set forth in Title II of the federal 
"Civil Rights Act of 1964," 42 U.S.C. Section 2000a.

 (2) 
"Artificial intelligence system" means any machine-based system that, for any 
explicit or implicit objective, infers from the inputs the system receives how 
to generate outputs, including content, decisions, predictions, or 
recommendations, that can influence physical or virtual environments.

 (3) 
"Consequential decision" means a decision that has a material legal or 
similarly significant effect on the provision or denial to any consumer of, or 
the cost or terms of:

 (a) 
education enrollment or an education opportunity;

 (b) 
employment or an employment opportunity;

 (c) 
a financial or lending service;

 (d) 
an essential government service;

 (e) 
healthcare services;

 (f) 
housing;

 (g) 
insurance; or

 (h) 
a legal service.

 (4) 
"Consumer" means an individual who is a South Carolina resident.

 (5) 
"Deploy" means to use a high-risk artificial intelligence system.

 (6) 
"Deployer" means a person doing business in this State that deploys a high-risk 
artificial intelligence system.

 (7) 
"Developer" means a person doing business in this State that develops or 
intentionally and substantially modifies an artificial intelligence system.

 (8) 
"Healthcare services" has the same meaning as provided in 42 U.S.C. Section 
234(d)(2).

 (9)(a) "High-risk artificial intelligence 
system" means any artificial intelligence system that, when deployed, makes or 
is a substantial factor in making, a consequential decision.

 (b) 
"High-risk artificial intelligence system" does not include:

 (i) 
an artificial intelligence system if the artificial intelligence system is 
intended to:

 (A) 
perform a narrow procedural task;

 (B) 
detect decision-making patterns or deviations from prior decision-marking 
patterns and is not intended to replace or influence a previously completed 
human assessment without sufficient human review; or

 (C) 
the following technologies, unless the technologies, when deployed, make or are 
a substantial factor in making, a consequential decision:

 (1) antimalware;

 (2) antivirus;

 (3) artificial intelligence-enabled 
video games;

 (4) calculators;

 (5) cybersecurity;

 (6) databases;

 (7) data storage;

 (8) firewall;

 (9) internet domain registration;

 (10) internet website loading;

 (11) networking;

 (12) spam and robocall filtering;

 (13) spell-checking:

 (14) spreadsheets;

 (15) web caching;

 (16) web hosting or any similar 
technology; or

 (17) technology that communicates with 
consumers in natural language for the purpose of providing users with 
information, making referrals or recommendations, and answering questions and 
is subject to an accepted use policy that prohibits generating content that is 
discriminatory or harmful.

 (10)(a) "Intentional and substantial 
modification" or "intentionally and substantially modifies" means a deliberate 
change made to an artific