OTI Endorses Artificial Intelligence (AI) Civil Rights Act

Yesterday, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Representative Yvette Clarke (NY-09) reintroduced their Artificial Intelligence (AI) Civil Rights Act, comprehensive legislation to prevent companies from using biased and discriminatory AI-powered algorithms to help make critical decisions in Americans’ lives, ensure algorithms are tested before and after deployment, and increase transparency of complex algorithms used for critical decisions.

OTI was one of the endorsers of the bill, with Director Prem Trivedi stating the following:

“The Open Technology Institute is pleased to endorse the AI Civil Rights Act. Algorithms are making more and more of the decisions that shape our daily lives—from who gets hired to whether a tenant is accepted by a housing management company to which prior authorizations are approved by insurers. Too often, algorithmic decisions entrench bias and deepen inequities.

The AI Civil Rights Act would rectify some of these harms by requiring independent audits, enforcing transparency, and giving people the right to a human review. The bill affirms a simple principle: decisions that shape people’s lives should be made by people, with algorithms supporting human decision making, not replacing it.”