A Sprinkle of Humor: Only a Handful of Firms Embrace New York’s Shiny New AI Hiring Law!
“Few companies apply New York’s new automated AI hiring law”
“As of late 2023, a new law in New York requires companies that use software to screen job applications to disclose to candidates when they are being evaluated by an algorithm. This is to ensure no bias is shown when it comes to age, race, gender, or anything else that falls under the umbrella of the Equal Employment Opportunity laws.”
Oh, how grand! New York and its progressive feathers have birthed yet another revolutionary law. The one that, wait for it, demands companies to announce when they’re using Artificial Intelligence to review job applications and hires. Give a mental round of applause for the lawmakers – they’ve attempted to shove opaque AI hiring practices into the glaring spotlight.
Apparently, the AI involved in the hiring process is supposed to observe and abide by the golden rules of Equal Employment Opportunity laws. Job applicants are to be free of bias based on age, race, gender, and other such discriminatory elements. It’s as if suddenly, every automated AI algorithm is programmed with a moral compass. Newsflash, the jury is still out on whether they can truly eliminate biases.
But the irony, dear reader, unveils itself when it appears that only a handful of organizations have applied these regulations. Could it have anything to do with the challenges of examining and verifying an algorithm’s inner workings? Or the fact that companies would rather tiptoe around this new law than spend time and resources understanding it? Now that’s ‘innovation’ for you.
The very thought of an automated AI, made up of 0s and 1s, having the power to determine the fate of job seekers is enough to make anyone’s skin crawl. And if AI does end up making a bias-tinted decision, who should we hold responsible; the developers, the algorithm, or this shiny new law that insisted AI to partake in hiring decisions?
So, while everyone else is busying themselves applauding New York’s strides in leveraging technology to tackle employment bias, we’d rather give it a standing ovation for its innovation in disarray. A word of advice to our New York friends—perhaps it’s time to work on laws that are as practical and realistic as they are novel.