Articles & Publications 11.29.23

President Biden’s AI Executive Order and Its Impact on Employers, Published in the HR Daily Advisor

In an article published 11/28 in the HR Daily Advisor, Segal McCambridge Shareholders Geoffrey Leskie and Michael Luchsinger discuss the ramifications of President Biden’s recent Executive Order on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The authors discuss the policy’s privacy concerns, the risk of increased workplace surveillance, and how AI used in hiring might unfavorably discriminate against candidates of a certain age, race, or gender.

“As a general principle, employers should avoid completely turning over certain functions to AI,” the authors write. “While AI will streamline these areas that are sometimes burdensome for employers, overly relying on it creates the potential for oversight of legal obligations to employees.”

In addition to such issues as biased hiring, AI could conceivably unfairly scrutinize some employees and not others, leading to issues with compensation. Furthermore, using AI to monitor employees could lead to crackdowns from state and federal agencies, such as the National Labor Relations Board, due to violations of privacy concerns.

“The Executive Order’s specific mandates are still unclear, but employers should be proactive and start considering what will be required of them when the guidance is rolled out, likely at the beginning of 2024,” write Leskie and Luchsinger. “As with all new developments in labor and employment law, managers and HR professionals would be wise to consult an attorney to navigate these new and evolving requirements.”