New York City Will Soon Regulate Use of Artificial Intelligence in Employment Decisions

No. 1894-A, specifically regulates the use of "automated employment decision tools" in making employment decisions, including "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." The law protects candidates and employees interviewing and working in New York City and provides that an automated employment decision tool may not be used to screen such candidates for employment and promotion unless the tool: (i) has been subject to a "bias audit" conducted no more than one year prior to the use of such tool; and (ii) a summary of the results of the most recent bias audit of such tool, as well as the distribution date of the tool, have been made publicly available on the website of the employer or employment agency prior to the use of such tool. A bias audit is an "an impartial evaluation by an independent auditor," and includes, without limitation, "the testing of an automated employment decision tool to assess the tool's disparate impact on persons of any [gender, race and job level] required to be reported by employers [on the Employer Information Report EEO-1] pursuant to [federal law]." Notably, the law does not state who or what qualifies as an "independent auditor." The law also requires that the New York City employer or employment agency satisfy certain notice requirements.