Federal Guidance for AI in HR

Since its inception, artificial intelligence has reshaped the way in which we approach and process information, and, like any pioneering innovation, it brings with it both the capacity to foster exponential growth and concerns about how to implement a relatively untested, yet profoundly powerful, tool ethically and responsibly.

Employers are being offered valuable opportunities to utilize generative AI within the human resources context, including in the recruitment of qualified and specialized talent, streamlining hiring processes, data-driven performance management and training programs, development of best practices, and records management, to name but a few. A quick Google search will identify any number of potential AI HR software platforms available for purchase and implementation which are designed to boost efficiency, bolster talent, and, perhaps most importantly, save time and resources.

This rapid expansion of AI into the field of employment has gotten the attention of federal lawmakers and regulators. Since the adoption in 2023 of wide-ranging executive action on the use of AI, federal agencies have been crafting policies concerning AI in the workplace. Specifically, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission began an “Artificial Intelligence and Algorithmic Fairness Initiative” and released guidance on the potential intersection between AI employment selection software and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Most recently, the United States Department of Labor issued a best practices handbook detailing its position on appropriate AI principles, emphasizing the importance of transparency and human oversight, as well as a focus on improvement of worker experience.

It behooves employers to think carefully and critically about both the nature and features of the AI products that they introduce into the workplace but also the policies and procedures that they create with respect to the utilization of those products and how they ensure compliance with the law.