Leader Schumer And Senator Markey Call On Biden Administration To Protect Civil Rights And Liberties When Federal Agencies Utilize AI; Senators Push OMB To Establish Civil Rights Offices At Every Federal Agency, Implement Bias Safeguards, & Protect Marginalized Communities ASAP

Washington, D.C. – Today, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) sent the following letter to Shalanda Young, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, demanding that all federal agencies that use AI for consequential decisions establish or maintain a civil rights office to establish additional safeguards to prevent algorithmic discrimination.

Today, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) wrote a letter to Shalanda Young, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the office tasked with interagency coordination relating to AI and has previously issued AI guidance to federal agencies, calling on OMB to require all federal agencies that use AI for consequential decisions to establish a civil rights office and additional safeguards to prevent algorithmic discrimination. As artificial intelligence becomes a helpful and prevalent tool in our government, the Senators note that it is vital that the government protects already marginalized and vulnerable communities. 

“Without new protections, today’s supercharged, AI-powered algorithms risk reinforcing and magnifying the discrimination that marginalized communities already experience due to poorly-trained and -tested algorithms,” wrote the Senators. “The stakes — and harms — are especially high where entities use algorithms to make ‘consequential decisions,’ such as an individual’s application for a job, their treatment at a hospital, their admission to an educational institution, or their qualification for a mortgage. Over the past decade, biased algorithms have increasingly been used to make or influence decisions, imposing real harm on Black, Brown, immigrant, and other marginalized communities.”

While the Biden Administration has taken steps to mitigate these issues, such as releasing a Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights and instituting a sweeping executive order, there is more oversight that must be done to prevent negative consequences. Leader Schumer has raised the alarm multiple times on the need to establish “explainability” when developing AI, or put more simply, make clear the reason that AI algorithms work in the way they do. Oversight in the use of AI algorithms, with a specific eye to civil rights issues, can combat against any discrimination or bias that might be a part of the fabric of them.  

“OMB should also direct agencies that use, fund, and procure AI for consequential decisions to establish civil rights offices, if they do not already have one. These new offices — along with existing civil rights offices — should be staffed with technologists and experts in algorithmic discrimination whose job responsibilities include mitigating algorithmic bias and discrimination and facilitating proactive and ongoing outreach to civil rights stakeholders and affected populations,” the Senators continued. 

They also wrote: “Building on OMB’s guidance that agencies should cease use of any AI that the agency cannot adequately mitigate unlawful discrimination,  OMB should also work with agencies to set strict guidelines to prevent algorithmic discrimination within relevant agency jurisdiction.”

While artificial intelligence has already begun to revolutionize certain industries, the federal government must be committed to combating potential side effects of this emerging technology. Leader Schumer has been hitting this drumbeat for years, organizing first-of-its-kind AI Insight Forums, which sought to bring together stakeholders, academics, civil rights leaders, labor leaders, creatives, and more to discuss what bipartisan legislation the Senate should consider. These forums – and the months of conversations and discussion that followed – led to a Roadmap for AI Legislation. The Senate is currently marking up and considering AI legislation in a bipartisan way through the Committee process and regular order. But action by the Administration must happen in tandem so that our government can address these challenges in a timely and informed fashion. 

The full text of the letter can be seen here.

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