Today, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division convened principals of federal agency civil rights offices and senior government officials to foster AI and civil rights coordination. This was the third such meeting hosted by the Civil Rights Division following President Biden’s Executive Order on the Safe, Secure and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence (EO 14110). The order tasks the Civil Rights Division with coordinating federal agencies to prevent and address unlawful discrimination and other harms that may result from AI use in programs and benefits while preserving potential social, medical, and other advances.
In her opening remarks, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division highlighted her recent announcement that nine cabinet-level federal agencies have pledged to enforce civil rights laws in AI as new technologies become more common in daily life.
Agencies discussed their efforts to safeguard civil rights through robust enforcement, policy initiatives, rulemaking, ongoing education, and outreach. They also completed all 180-day actions outlined in EO 14110 on schedule. These accomplishments include:
- Guidance to assist federal contractors in compliance with equal employment laws to promote safe AI adoption (Department of Labor).
- Resources for job seekers, workers, tech vendors, and creators on how AI use could violate employment discrimination laws (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission).
- Guidance affirming that existing prohibitions against discrimination apply to AI’s use for tenant screening and advertisement of housing opportunities (Department of Housing and Urban Development).
- Guidance setting guardrails for responsible AI use in administering public benefits programs (Department of Agriculture and Department of Health and Human Services).
- A final rule applying nondiscrimination principles under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act to patient care decision support tools in clinical care (Department of Health and Human Services).
The interagency convening's attendees included Chair Charlotte Burrows of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; Director Melanie Fontes Rainer of the Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights; Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia of the Department of Homeland Security; Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Diane Shelley of the Department of Housing and Urban Development; along with other senior agency officials.
All participants pledged continued collaboration to protect the American public against any harm resulting from increased use and reliance on AI, algorithms, and other advanced technologies. The agencies also agreed to partner on external stakeholder engagement around their collective efforts to advance equity and civil rights in AI.
For more information, see the Civil Rights Division’s webpage which centralizes content related to its work on AI and civil rights. This resource provides information about how advanced technologies can result in unlawful discrimination and what assistance is available for victims. The webpage will soon include contributions from enforcement agencies throughout the federal government regarding their work on AI.
Assistant Attorney General Clarke meets with government officials to foster AI and civil rights coordination.