May 13, 2022

The United States government has warned organizations against discrimination that can arise from the use of artificial intelligence to screen new job applicants or monitor workers’ productivity.

The technology could unfairly discriminate against people with disabilities. To address the issue, the U.S. Justice Department and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have jointly issued guidance.

AI technology tools that discriminate include CV scanners, employee monitoring software that ranks workers based on keystrokes, game-like online tests to assess their professional skills, and video interview software that measures a person’s speech pattern or facial expressions.

The AI technology could potentially weed out people with speech impairments, severe arthritis that slows typing, or a range of other physical or mental impairments.

The guide will help organizations understand the intricacies of such technologies, in line with the American with Disabilities Act, before using AI tools to streamline work in assessing employees and job prospects.

The sources for this piece include an article in NPR.