HR Dive recently reported on a new rule from the City of New York meant to provide guidance on regulating the use of AI in the hiring process—and how to audit these tools for bias.
The new law, New York City Automated Employment Decision Tools (“AEDT”) Law, will go into effect on July 5, 2023, and is part of a series of AI-related developments affecting HR departments.
According to National Law Review, the final rule came after a series of revisions, and include several material changes, such as “an expanded definition of machine learning, statistical modeling, data analytics, or artificial intelligence and clarified requirements for the bias audit and notice and disclosure requirements.”
What this means for your organization
If your HR department currently incorporates what NYC’s law defines as any “automated employment decision tool,” or AEDT, it must be audited for bias.
To further clarify what types of tools are included under the AEDT umbrella, the law defines this as “any computational process, derived from machine learning, statistical modeling, data analytics or artificial intelligence, that issues simplified output, including a score, classification or recommendation, that is used to substantially assist or replace discretionary decision making for making employment decisions that impact natural persons.”
Employers must be aware of the ethical considerations of using artificial intelligence technology—even in its current nascent stage—in the workplace. HR and business leaders are being drawn into the conflict between the competitive advantage the technology can provide and concerns about negative implications like unintended bias.
Under the new rule, NYC employers may not use any form of AEDT if it has not been audited for bias, and may not continue if the tool has not been audited for more than a year.
According to our partners at SHRM, while HR departments will likely need further clarification, the legislation is groundbreaking, and aptly follows suit of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) initiative to ensure that AI and other emerging technologies comply with federal anti-discrimination laws.
