Is the Legal System Keeping Up with AI as it relates to Hiring?
While AI seems to be moving at breakneck speed, legal experts are doing what they can to keep up. Legislators in New York City have recently enacted Local Law 144, which mandates that companies who use AI for screening resumes and conducting first-round video interviews conduct bias audits on the tools they use, in an effort to cut down on discrimination against BIPOC individuals. This law is controversial because hiring bias against this group existed before AI, and the audits are not universally trusted. In 2020, Illinois created the Artificial Intelligence Video Interview Act, which has five provisions that relate to the use of video for candidate interviews, taking into account transparency, consent, privacy and data sharing, and storage. Maryland “prohibits an employer from using certain facial recognition services — many of which use AI processes — during job interviews unless the applicant consents.”. (Kempe, 2024)
I find facial recognition in relation to hiring to be especially interesting. Companies like HireVue offer organizations a video interviewing service that will analyze facial expressions or voices with artificial intelligence.
I recently went to an event where experts in employment law spoke specifically about the use of facial recognition software in recruiting and gave examples of ways that it could be easily biased toward “normal” faces. For example, a person who has had a stroke or seizure, is using an eye patch, or whose eyes do not look in the same direction, will not appear the way the AI facial recognition technology expects them to appear.
Check out my other posts on the ethical issues of using AI for recruiting and hiring, and how HR can set policies regarding AI adoption in organizations.
References:
Eisenpress, C. (2023). City employers required to check their AI hiring bias; Local Law 144, taking effect in July, is an attempt to govern artificial intelligence in commercial uses. Crain’s New York Business, 39(20), 15-.
Kempe, L. (2024, April). Business Law Today [Association]. Navigating the AI employment bias maze: legal compliance guidelines and strategies; American Bar Association. https://www.americanbar.org/groups/business_law/resources/business-law-todasy/2024-april/navigating-ai-employment-bias-maze/#:~:text=The%20Equal%20Employment%20Opportunity%20Commission,to%20understand%20relevant%20EEOC%20guidance.
Spotlight — Coded bias documentary. (n.d.). Retrieved July 22, 2024, from https://www.ajl.org/facial-recognition-technology
