EEOC Launches Initiative on Artificial Intelligence (AI) - Employment Screening Resources

On October 28, 2021, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced the launching of an initiative to ensure that Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other emerging tools used in hiring and other employment decisions comply with federal civil rights laws that the agency enforces, according to an EEOC press release. "Artificial intelligence and algorithmic decision-making tools have great potential to improve our lives, including in the area of employment. At the same time, the EEOC is keenly aware that these tools may mask and perpetuate bias or create new discriminatory barriers to jobs," EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows stated in the press release. The initiative will examine how technology is fundamentally changing the way employment decisions are made and aims to guide applicants, employees, employers, and technology vendors in ensuring these technologies are used with federal equal employment opportunity (EEO) laws. "Bias in employment arising from the use of algorithms and AI falls squarely within the Commission's priority to address systemic discrimination. The EEOC will address workplace bias that violates federal civil rights laws regardless of the form it takes," said Burrows, who was appointed by President Joe Biden in January 2021.