The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy recently published The Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights: Making Automated Systems Work for the American People (the Blueprint), a set of five principles to help guide designers, developers, and deployers of AI in the design, use, and deployment of automated systems with the goal of protecting the public’s rights.
While the Blueprint is nonbinding and does not constitute US government policy, many of its provisions reflect protections that are provided in the US Constitution or have been implemented under existing US laws.
Five Principles
- Safe and Effective Systems. Automated systems should undergo pre-deployment testing, risk identification and mitigation, and ongoing monitoring including input from diverse communities and stakeholders.
- Algorithmic Discrimination Practices. Developers should design automated systems to protect users against discrimination and discriminatory outcomes and to eliminate unjustified different treatment or impacts caused by algorithms that disfavor people based on their race, color, ethnicity, religion, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions, gender identity, intersex status, and sexual orientation), or any other classification protected by law.
- Data Privacy. Automated systems should obtain user permission for the collection, use, access, transfer, and deletion of the user’s data. Any consent requests should be clear, brief, and easy to understand.
- Notice and Explanation. Users should be notified that they are using an automated system and how it contributes to outcomes that impact them.
- Human Alternatives, Consideration, and Fallback. Users should be able to opt out of an automated system, when appropriate, and interact with a human alternative. There should also be a fallback and escalation process if an automated system fails or produces an error or result that the user would like to contest.
Application of Blueprint
The Blueprint indicates that it should apply to all automated systems that have the potential to meaningfully impact the American public’s rights, opportunities, or access to critical resources or services.
- Impacted rights include voting, freedom of speech, and protection from discrimination.
- Opportunities include equitable access to education, housing, credit, and employment.
- Access to critical resources or services includes access to healthcare, financial services, and social services.
In addition to the five principles, the Blueprint contains notes on its application as well as supplemental sections providing steps organizations can take to put these principles into practice. There is also an appendix that lists examples of automated systems that should be covered by the Blueprint.
Tech & Sourcing @ Morgan Lewis will review the future impact of the Blueprint and any federal or state legislation or regulation that implements or otherwise addresses the multiple aspects of the Blueprint.