Domo Arigato, NY Limits Mr. Roboto. New York City has passed a new law to restrict employers from using artificial intelligence ("AI") to make employment decisions in the City, effective January 1, 2023. Apparently, this is a problem that needed a legislative solution.
In Philadelphia, we still think AI refers to Allen Iverson, but apparently a creeping crisis in the Big Apple and elsewhere is automated systems filtering out applicants and making other employment decisions (such as evaluations of productivity) based on criteria that may have a disparate impact on minorities. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has weighed in on the issue, too – see its guidance here.
The NY law's two main requirements are (1) to provide notice to those being evaluated or subjected to the AI process, including the qualifications and characteristics used by the system; and (2) to audit such systems at least annually to check for any discriminatory impacts, with the audits publicly posted on the employer's website.
Styx might be thankful for this development, prophesying in 1983 a dystopian robot-human mash-up:
My heart is human, my blood is boiling, my brain I.B.M.
… I'm not a robot without emotions, I'm not what you see
I've come to help you with your problems, so we can be free.
Thank you very much, New York City, for protecting us against robot discrimination.