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The EEOC held a hearing on January 31, 2023, on Navigating Employment Discrimination in AI and Automated Systems: A New Civil Rights Frontier. The EEOC announced that “[d]uring the hearing, panelists will discuss the civil rights implications of AI and other automated systems on America’s workers and job seekers. The hearing will also explore ways in which these technologies might support diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) efforts.”

The EEOC press release adds that

This hearing continues the work of the EEOC’s AI and Algorithmic Fairness Initiative, an agency-wide initiative to ensure that the use of software, including AI and other emerging technologies used in hiring and other employment decisions, comply with the federal civil rights laws that the EEOC enforces. As a part of this initiative, the EEOC published a technical assistance document titled The Americans with Disabilities Act and the Use of Software, Algorithms, and Artificial Intelligence to Assess Job Applicants and Employees. The Commission’s last hearing on this subject was in 2016, when the agency explored the implications of big data in the workplace. Today’s hearing focused on ensuring that the agency responds to the latest developments in the use of automated technology in employment.

Witness list:

Panel 1

  • Suresh Venkatasubramanian, Deputy Director of the Data Science Initiative and, Professor of Data Science and Computer Science, Brown University
  • Pauline Kim, Daniel Noyes Kirby Professor of Law, Washington University School of Law
  • Jordan Crenshaw, Vice President, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
  • ReNika Moore, Director of Racial Justice Program, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

Panel 2

Panel 3

  • Matthew U. Scherer, Senior Policy Counsel for Workers’ Rights and Technology, Center for Democracy and Technology
  • Heather Tinsley-Fix, Senior Advisor, Employer Engagement at AARP
  • Ifeoma Ajunwa, Associate Professor of Law, University of North Carolina School of Law
  • Alex C. Engler, Fellow, Brookings Institute and Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University

Additional resources: