Machines Are Tools. People Are Persons.

Technology is advancing faster than the law. Artificial intelligence now drafts contracts, manages investment portfolios, analyzes medical data, writes legislative summaries, and can even simulate human conversation convincingly. Around the world, AI systems have been installed as corporate executives, given board-level voting authority, and used as political “candidates” with human proxies.

That may sound futuristic — but it is already happening!

So here is the question: When Tennessee law uses the word “person,” what do we mean?

My legislation this year simply clarifies that in Tennessee, “person,” “natural person,” and “life” do not include artificial intelligence, algorithms, software, hardware, or machines. That’s it.

It does not ban AI. It does not regulate innovation.It does not restrict business development.It does not change corporate law. It simply ensures that rights, duties, and accountability remain human-centered.

Why This Matters

The word “person” appears throughout Tennessee Code. It determines who can:

• Hold office

• Sue or be sued

• Exercise rights

• Bear legal responsibility

• Enter contracts

• Claim constitutional protections

  
  

If the law is silent, courts—not elected representatives—will decide whether advanced AI systems qualify under those definitions. We should not wait for litigation to define this boundary for us. Artificial intelligence may assist human decision-making. It may automate tasks. It may provide recommendations. But it does not possess conscience. It does not bear moral responsibility. It cannot be jailed. It cannot stand trial. It does not vote.

Machines are tools. People are persons.

Why Clarify Now?

As lawmakers, we often legislate in response to crises. This is an opportunity to legislate in advance of one. Across the country and internationally, we are already seeing:

• AI installed as CEOs of companies

• Algorithm-driven entities recognized under business statutes

• AI systems proposed as governing decision-makers

• Legal arguments attempting to recognize AI as inventors or rights-bearing actors

Whether those efforts succeed or fail, they demonstrate one thing: the boundaries are being tested. Tennessee should be clear before ambiguity becomes precedent.

A Simple Principle

Innovation is welcome in Tennessee. Technology is welcome. Entrepreneurs are welcome.

But rights belong to human beings. Responsibility belongs to human beings. Accountability belongs to human beings. This bill protects that foundational principle in an era of rapidly changing technology — without interfering in medical practice, business innovation, or private enterprise.

The law should serve people. Not machines.

— Rep. Michele Reneau

HB849 is set to go before the Civil Justice subcommitee on Wednesday, March 18, 2026.