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Federal Agencies Release Joint Statement on Discrimination and Bias in AI

On April 25, 2023, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division released a joint statement reiterating their commitment to monitoring the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI) and automated systems and to protect the public’s fair and equal access to employment, housing, credit opportunities, and other goods and services, whether the legal violations occur through traditional means or advanced technologies. The agencies identified potential sources of discrimination including problems with:

• Data and datasets which may be skewed or correlated with protected classes
• Model opacity: If a system’s internal workings are not transparent, it is difficult to determine whether it is fair
• Design and use: Developers do not always account for the contexts in which their systems will be used, or the underlying practices or procedures they may replace

They also referred to previously released guidance including:

• CFPB circular on adverse action notification requirements in connection with credit decisions  based on complex algorithms
• DOJ Civil Rights Division statement of interest on the Fair Housing Act and algorithm-based tenant screening services
• EEOC technical assistance document on ADA and the use of software, algorithms and AI in employment-related decisions
• FTC report warning that AI tools in themselves are not policy solutions to online dangers