New York City could soon reduce the chances of AI bias in the job market. The Associated Press notes that the city council passed bill banning AI recruitment systems that do not pass annual audits that confirm racial or gender discrimination. Transparency (including the disclosure of automated systems) and provision of alternatives, such human evaluations. The fines would be up to $ 1,500 per incident.
The bill was approved on November 10th. Outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio has a month to say goodbye but has not said whether he will or not. If the measure progresses, it would take effect in 2023.
A signed law could reduce the chances of AI hiring technology that skews candidate pools and the resulting employee demographics. Pro-business organizations like the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce are already supportive, suggesting that disclosures are vital to both employers and their talents.
However, there are already concerns that having a law passed may not help as much as it promised. Alexandra Givens of the Center for Democracy and Technology told the AP that the bill ignored other prejudices like disability or age discrimination. This also assumes the audits are effective: Julia Stoyanovich of New York University argued that the requirements are “very easy to meet”. There is concern that legislation could inadvertently protect employers whose artificial intelligence platforms have different or more difficult-to-spot biases.
