Vice President Kamala Harris convened a group of civil rights and labor leaders Wednesday to discuss the field of artificial intelligence, which critics warn is already perpetuating discrimination and increased surveillance of American workers.
“Innovation has so much possibility to improve the condition of human life,” Harris said to open the meeting. “We must also ensure that in that process, we are not trampling on people’s rights.”
The meeting is part of a broader administration push to identify and tackle concerns with artificial intelligence technologies as their use by employers and the general public has exploded. Harris on Wednesday cited the need for privacy protections for consumers and workers.
Companies such as Amazon.com Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc. have been criticized by organized labor for using AI technology to improve performance and efficiency in ways critics say harm workplace safety.
President Joe Biden tasked staffers with developing an AI Bill of Rights, published last fall, that includes tenets to guide business leaders. Biden signed an executive order earlier this year instructing federal agencies to identify actions to ensure that the use of AI advances equity, both within and outside of government.
Further actions from the executive branch are expected in the coming months, the official said.
Lawmakers in Congress have also echoed concerns about the tools’ potential to perpetuate discrimination, particularly through programs used to screen job applicants or intended for use in the criminal justice system.
Leaders from the civil rights, labor, and cybersecurity sectors joined the discussion with Harris. Attendees included AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights CEO Maya Wiley, AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins, and UnidosUS CEO Janet Murguia.
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Arati Prabhakar and Domestic Policy Council Director Neera Tanden also joined the meeting.
Harris and Biden have spoken with business leaders to discuss adopting new privacy and security safeguards for consumers, including at a May meeting with the heads of top AI firms, including CEOs Sam Altman of OpenAI Inc., Dario Amodei of Anthropic, Microsoft Corp.’s Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai of Alphabet Inc.