A prominent voice in Congress has issued a call asking that lawmakers authorize new legislation that would regulate artificial intelligence (AI) and protect its users, specifically in marginalized communities.
At a keynote speech at the Center for Civil Rights and Technology in Washington, D.C. last Tuesday, Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y, said “we find ourselves amid a technological revolution, the new age of AI. [And] as we seek to innovate, we must also work to enshrine values into the technology of the future. Technology cannot be innovative if it’s leaving behind the marginalized.”
AI has begun to permeate the way we live, specifically with algorithms put in place that make decisions about whether a person can obtain insurance, housing, employment, healthcare and banking. In some cases, these systems can be flawed and lead to unfair and discriminatory practices that can have a “critical impact on people’s lives based on sometimes flawed or biased datasets.”
“Bias in AI is the civil rights issue of our time … We must take care to ensure the harms of the past are not entrenched in the technology of the future,” she continued, adding that Congress must act now to regulate how AI makes decisions on the livelihood of millions of Americans.
In 2023, Rep. Clarke, alongside Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J. introduced the Algorithmic Accountability Act of 2023, which aims to establish protections for individuals impacted by algorithmic decision-making, particularly in sectors such as housing, credit, education, and beyond. If enacted, the law would mandate certain companies to conduct impact assessments on augmented critical decision processes and automated decision systems.
“In other words, this bill would require companies to internally audit whether the algorithms they intend to use or deploy are not leading to biased outcomes that can negatively impact ordinary citizens’ lives,” Rep Clarke said. “With few laws to manage the spread of the technology, we stand at the precipice of a new era of disinformation warfare aided by the use of new AI tools.”
