White House AI Bill of Rights could help with tech bias

The White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released a blueprint for an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Bill of Rights, a set of five principles and associated practices to help guide the design, use and deployment of automated system, according to a release. The goal of the document and its accompanying handbook is to provide a roadmap for governments, corporations, academics, researchers and other stakeholders to better develop technologies to help rather than harm millions of consumers in housing, financial services, education and other public sectors. "Technology is the new civil rights frontier," President and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) Lisa Rice said in a release. "We are learning more each day about how existing technologies harm people and communities. This plan will serve as a guide that encourages developers and marketers of AI tools to search for least discriminatory alternative (LDA) solutions in credit scoring, underwriting, pricing, tenant screening, health management, employee screening and other systems. "It will also continue to position the United States as a global leader in advancing policies and techniques for the development of fair, transparent, explainable, responsible AI." The need for such a document arose from recognized issues with AI and the algorithms used. Tools created with this technology to assist with hiring and credit decisions have been found to reproduce undesired inequities or even create harmful bias and discrimination. When it comes to housing, NFHA stated race-based laws and policies, segregation, private prejudices, real estate agent steering, bank redlining, appraisal bias and restrictive zoning ordinances have contributed to biased data pools, resulting in discriminatory algorithms. "Already, communities of color are facing disproportionate adverse effects from the rapid proliferation of AI technologies in the United States," David Brody, managing attorney of the digital justice initiative at the Lawyers' Committee, said. "The Bill of Rights establishes a new generation of fair information practices.