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JULY NEWSLETTER  

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How Legislation Can Address the Risks Posed by AI in Employment

Increasingly, employers are using automated employment decision systems (AEDSs) to evaluate employees and make decisions around recruitment, hiring, and personnel management—but workers subject to these systems have little insight into how they are assessed or when they’re at risk of unfair or discriminatory decisions. Antidiscrimination regulation has failed to keep pace with companies’ practices, but legislators are recognizing the problem, and have recently stepped up on AEDS legislation and policy proposals. At the end of 2023, at least 11 bills were pending across the country, and in the first few weeks of 2024, seven more across six states were introduced.

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Graphic for report, entitled "Civil Rights Standards for 21st Century Employment Selection Procedures." A blue and green work station and chair, including desk, chair, and laptop.

Although increased legislative attention to AEDSs is welcome, much of the proposed legislation falls short of addressing the risks that AEDSs pose. CDT illustrates how in a new report, Regulating Robo-Bosses: Surveying the Civil Rights Policy Landscape for Automated Employment Decision Systems ([link removed]). In the report, we analyze the extent to which recent AEDS legislation implements the civil rights standards for employee recruitment and assessment ([link removed]) that CDT and a broad range of partner organizations published in 2023. 

We also provide a legislative roadmap for helping prevent AEDSs from perpetuating discrimination in employment decisions, identifying three promising strategies for future policy efforts:

Pursue comprehensive workplace technology legislation addressing both AEDSs and systems for electronic surveillance and automated management, which also threaten workers’ rights. 

Support legislation establishing robust disclosure requirements regarding AEDSs that, when combined with enforcement remedies already available under current antidiscrimination laws, could address many key discrimination risks.

Reject legislation that would adopt weak auditing or impact assessment requirements, particularly legislation that would require employers to check only for certain types of discrimination, which would send a signal that other forms of discrimination (such as age and disability) are less important than others.

In Case You Missed It

— CDT, the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, and the National Network to End Domestic Violence announced a new multistakeholder working group ([link removed]) to identify interventions that prevent and mitigate the harms associated with the creation, spread, and monetization of non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII), including AI-generated content.

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Graphic for CDT's podcast, entitled "CDT's Tech Talks." Hosted by Jamal Magby, and available on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, and TuneIn. Dark grey text and app logos, as well as light blue text, on a white background.

— The latest episode of CDT’s Tech Talks podcast ([link removed]) features a conversation with Josh Kroll, CDT Non-Resident Fellow and Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the Naval Postgraduate School. We discuss the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s voluntary Privacy Framework, which offers guidance for how organizations can protect data privacy and security, and its potential shortcomings in addressing data inferences.

— CDT’s Chief Technology Officer Mallory Knodel joined an open letter ([link removed]) asking the UN’s Secretary-General and Envoy on Technology to uphold the democratic model of internet governance as part of the upcoming Global Digital Compact.

— CDT submitted comments to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy ([link removed]) in response to its request for information on building the Federal Evidence Agenda on Disability Equity. CDT’s comments described disparities in data collection that arise from multiple models of disability, and from disproportionate incarceration and institutionalization of disabled people. We advised that agencies should incorporate various privacy protection mechanisms into their practices for gathering disability-related data.

CDT in the Press 

— CDT’s Gabriel Nicholas published a piece in Foreign Policy ([link removed]) arguing that AI companies must share data with researchers on how people use their products, to help comprehensively identify what harms are most prevalent and where policymakers should direct their attention.

— CDT’s Kate Ruane talked with the Washington Post ([link removed]) about the Supreme Court’s Netchoice decision: “Any government that wants to treat platforms’ news feeds as common carriers is going to have a really hard time doing that going forward.”

— CDT’s Jake Laperruque told Bloomberg Law ([link removed]) about the Fourth Circuit’s ruling in US v. Chatrie, “The Supreme Court’s refusal to take up future location privacy questions—or any Fourth Amendment cases on new technologies and surveillance in the six years since Carpenter—has left a void and opened the door to this type of regressive ruling.” 

— CDT’s George Slover spoke with the Los Angeles Times ([link removed]) about personalized pricing: “The seller knows everything about the buyer, and what they are likely, willing and able to pay… It inverts, or you might say perverts, the assumptions at the very foundation of the justification for the free market,” he said.

Graphic for CDT's Tech Prom, taking place on November 14, 2024, at The Anthem in Washington, D.C. Big block letters (blue and purple) being showered in confetti.

CDT "in Person"

— We are thrilled to announce CDT’s 2024 Tech Prom, which will take place on November 14 at the Anthem in Washington, D.C. Learn more about the event, including how to sponsor or purchase tickets, on our Tech Prom page ([link removed]). 

— On July 31, join Justice Legal Strategies and CDT’s own Miranda Bogen for a virtual panel on “What You Need to Know About Artificial Intelligence.” Learn more about the panel and register on the event website ([link removed]). 

— On June 24, government officials, civil society, and academics convened at the “Artificial Intelligence & The First Amendment: Protecting Free Speech in the AI Era” symposium hosted by CDT and The Future of Free Speech. Experts discussed the importance of free expression considerations when it comes to the regulatory debates around AI. For more about the event, read the recap on CDT’s website ([link removed]).

Becca Branum, wearing a light blue top, standing in front of an outdoor water view.

Staff Spotlight
Becca Branum ([link removed]), Deputy Director, Free Expression Project

How long have you been working in digital rights? I'm a new addition to CDT, but most recently worked in the Senate on technology policy and civil rights. In law school, I worked as a law clerk for the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, which is where I caught the tech policy bug. Between then and joining CDT three months ago, I've worked in academia, government, nonprofits, and the private sector on an array of issues that inform my work at CDT.

What is your proudest moment while here at CDT? I have admired CDT's work for well over a decade, so joining the team was itself a proud moment. Since then, I am most proud of CDT's work on nonconsensual intimate image (NCII) abuse, including CDT's launch of a multi-stakeholder working group and endorsement of legislation that would help victims of AI-generated NCII. I care about technology policy because I care about people, so I'm proud to work for an organization that's bringing civil society and industry together to help victims and address intimate image abuse.

What is the most recent cultural activity you’ve been to? Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV is a fun, clear-eyed cultural examination of reality programming by Emily Nussbaum. She traces the history of the genre from 1930s audience participation radio shows to more modern incarnations like Survivor, The Real World, and The Apprentice. She doesn’t shy away from the exploitative and uncomfortable aspects of the genre, while also recognizing that this “low-brow” entertainment is wildly popular and of huge cultural and political significance. It's worth a read, whether you love reality TV, hate it, or (like me) fall somewhere in between.

Cats or dogs? Dogs! I grew up having cats but became a dog person when my then-boyfriend (now husband) got our corgi, Jaws. Jaws has since left us, but his little sister, a Pomeranian named Coconut, brings us a lot of joy.

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