The Biden administration announced Thursday that employers who use algorithms and artificial intelligence to make hiring decisions risk violating the Americans with Disabilities Act if applicants with disabilities are disadvantaged in the process.
The majority of American employers now use the automated hiring technology — tools such as resume scanners, chatbot interviewers, gamified personality tests, facial recognition and voice analysis.
The ADA is supposed to protect people with disabilities from employment discrimination, but just 19 percent of disabled Americans were employed in 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Kristen Clarke, the assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Department of Justice, which made the announcement jointly with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, told NBC News there is “no doubt” that increased use of the technologies is “fueling some of the persistent discrimination.”
Recent Comments