RTP's Fourth Branch Podcast Deep Dive 259 - AI & Antidiscrimination: AI Entering the Arena of Labor & Employment Law [Panel Discussion]
Apr 13, 2023
01:07:54
Artificial Intelligence (AI), once the stuff of science fiction, is now more than ever a part of everyday life, regularly affecting the lives of individuals the world over, sometimes in ways they may not even know. AI is increasingly used both in the public and private sectors for facial recognition, dataset analysis, risk and performance predictions, and much more, though how companies use it and the actual input it has can be unclear.
Experts have warned that the expanded use of AI, especially in areas related to labor and employment, if uninvestigated, could pose serious issues. Some contend that the use of AI tools can help make hiring processes more efficient and perhaps remove human biases from the equations. Others note that while this may be an admirable goal, many AI tools have been shown to produce discriminatory outcomes. The opaque nature of how some of these AI tools operate further complicates matters, as how an AI came to a particular decision and the data it referenced may not be clear to the human reviewer, thus making the identification of discriminatory practices harder to identify.
All of these issues, especially given the increasing use of AI tools in the hiring processes of many companies, raise several questions concerning AI’s entrance into the Labor and Employment space. What benefits and challenges does using AI in hiring present? How can AI be used to combat discrimination? What happens when AI itself is discriminatory, how can that be identified and addressed? What statutes and regulations apply to AI, and do the existing legal and regulatory frameworks concerning anti-discrimination in labor and employment suffice to address the novel nature of AI?
Featuring:
David Fortney, Co-Founder, Fortney & Scott LLC, & former Chief Legal Officer, U.S. Department of Labor
Prof. Aram Gavoor, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs; Professorial Lecturer in Law, The George Washington University
Hon. Keith Sonderling, Commissioner, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Moderator: Hon. Phillip Miscimarra, Partner, Morgan & Lewis, & former Chairman, National Labor Relations Board
Visit our website – www.RegProject.org – to learn more, view all of our content, and connect with us on social media.
Experts have warned that the expanded use of AI, especially in areas related to labor and employment, if uninvestigated, could pose serious issues. Some contend that the use of AI tools can help make hiring processes more efficient and perhaps remove human biases from the equations. Others note that while this may be an admirable goal, many AI tools have been shown to produce discriminatory outcomes. The opaque nature of how some of these AI tools operate further complicates matters, as how an AI came to a particular decision and the data it referenced may not be clear to the human reviewer, thus making the identification of discriminatory practices harder to identify.
All of these issues, especially given the increasing use of AI tools in the hiring processes of many companies, raise several questions concerning AI’s entrance into the Labor and Employment space. What benefits and challenges does using AI in hiring present? How can AI be used to combat discrimination? What happens when AI itself is discriminatory, how can that be identified and addressed? What statutes and regulations apply to AI, and do the existing legal and regulatory frameworks concerning anti-discrimination in labor and employment suffice to address the novel nature of AI?
Featuring:
David Fortney, Co-Founder, Fortney & Scott LLC, & former Chief Legal Officer, U.S. Department of Labor
Prof. Aram Gavoor, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs; Professorial Lecturer in Law, The George Washington University
Hon. Keith Sonderling, Commissioner, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Moderator: Hon. Phillip Miscimarra, Partner, Morgan & Lewis, & former Chairman, National Labor Relations Board
Visit our website – www.RegProject.org – to learn more, view all of our content, and connect with us on social media.