Use of Artificial Intelligence Targeted by DC Legislation

The use of artificial intelligence to determine access to credit and other important life opportunities has been targeted by legislation under consideration by the District of Columbia City Council. On December 9, 2021, DC Attorney General Karl Racine introduced the "Stop Discrimination by Algorithms Act of 2021." "Not surprisingly, algorithmic decision-making computer programs have been convincingly proven to replicate and, worse, exacerbate racial and other illegal bias in critical services that all residents of the United States require to function in our treasured capitalistic society, " said AG Racine. "This so-called artificial intelligence is the engine of algorithms that are, in fact, far less smart than they are portrayed, and more discriminatory and unfair than big data wants you to know. Our legislation would end the myth of the intrinsic egalitarian nature of AI."