DENVER (AP) — Artificial intelligence is helping decide which Americans get the job interview, the apartment, even medical care, but the first major proposals to reign in bias in AI decision making are facing headwinds from every direction.
Lawmakers working on these bills, in states including Colorado, Connecticut and Texas, came together Thursday to argue the case for their proposals as civil rights-oriented groups and the industry play tug-of-war with core components of the legislation.
“Every bill we run is going to end the world as we know it. That’s a common thread you hear when you run policies,” Colorado’s Democratic Senate Majority Leader Robert Rodriguez said Thursday. “We’re here with a policy that’s not been done anywhere to the extent that we’ve done it, and it’s a glass ceiling we’re breaking trying to do good policy.”
Organizations including labor unions and consumer advocacy groups are pulling for more transparency from companies and greater legal recourse for citizens to sue over AI discrimination. The industry is offering tentative support but digging in its heels over those accountability measures.
The group of bipartisan lawmakers caught in the middle — including those from Alaska, Georgia and Virginia — has been working on AI legislation together in the face of federal inaction. On Thursday, they highlighted their work across states and stakeholders, emphasizing the need for AI legislation and reinforcing the importance for collaboration and compromise to avoid regulatory inconsistencies across state lines. They also argued the bills are a first step that can be built on going forward.
“It’s a new frontier and in a way, a bit of a wild, wild West,” Alaska’s Republican Sen. Shelley Hughes said at the news conference. “But it is a good reminder that legislation that passed, it’s not in stone, it can be tweaked over time.”
While over 400 AI-related bills are being debated this year in statehouses nationwide, most target one industry or just a piece of the technology — such as deepfakes used in elections or to make pornographic images.
The biggest bills this team of lawmakers has put forward offer a broad framework for oversight, particularly around one of the technology's most perverse dilemmas: AI discrimination. Examples include an AI that failed to accurately assess Black medical patients and another that downgraded women’s resumes as it filtered job applications.
Still, up to 83% of employers use algorithms to help in hiring, according to estimates from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
If nothing is done, there will almost always be bias in these AI systems, explained Suresh Venkatasubramanian, a Brown University computer and data science professor who’s teaching a class on mitigating bias in the design of these algorithms.
“You have to do something explicit to not be biased in the first place,” he said.
These proposals, mainly in Colorado and Connecticut, are complex, but the core thrust is that companies would be required to perform “impact assessments" for AI systems that play a large role in making decisions for those in the U.S. Those reports would include descriptions of how AI figures into a decision, the data collected and an analysis of the risks of discrimination, along with an explanation of the company’s safeguards.
Requiring greater access to information on the AI systems means more accountability and safety for the public. But companies worry it also raises the risk of lawsuits and the revelation of trade secrets.
David Edmonson, of TechNet, a bipartisan network of technology CEOs and senior executives that lobbies on AI bills, said in a statement that the organization works with lawmakers to “ensure any legislation addresses AI’s risk while allowing innovation to flourish.”
Under bills in Colorado and Connecticut, companies that use AI wouldn’t have to routinely submit impact assessments to the government. Instead, they would be required to disclose to the attorney general if they found discrimination — a government or independent organization wouldn't be testing these AI systems for bias.
Labor unions and academics worry that over reliance on companies self-reporting imperils the public or government's ability to catch AI discrimination before it's done harm.
“It’s already hard when you have these huge companies with billions of dollars,” said Kjersten Forseth, who represents the Colorado's AFL-CIO, a federation of labor unions that opposes Colorado's bill. “Essentially you are giving them an extra boot to push down on a worker or consumer.”
The California Chamber of Commerce opposes that state's bill, concerned that impact assessments could be made public in litigation.
Another contentious component of the bills is who can file a lawsuit under the legislation, which the bills generally limit to state attorney generals and other public attorneys — not citizens.
After a provision in California's bill that allowed citizens to sue was stripped out, Workday, a finance and HR software company, endorsed the proposal. Workday argues that civil actions from citizens would leave the decisions up to judges, many of whom are not tech experts, and could result in an inconsistent approach to regulation.
Sorelle Friedler, a professor who focuses on AI bias at Haverford College, pushes back.
“That’s generally how American society asserts our rights, is by suing,” said Friedler.
Connecticut’s Democratic state Sen. James Maroney said there’s been pushback in articles that claim he and Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Texas, have been “pedaling industry-written bills” despite all of the money being spent by the industry to lobby against the legislation.
Maroney pointed out one industry group, Consumer Technology Association, has taken out ads and built a website, urging lawmakers to defeat the legislation.
“I believe that we are on the right path. We’ve worked together with people from industry, from academia, from civil society,” he said.
“Everyone wants to feel safe, and we’re creating regulations that will allow for safe and trustworthy AI," he added.
Associated Press reporters Trân Nguyễn contributed from Sacramento, California, Becky Bohrer contributed from Juneau, Alaska, Susan Haigh contributed from Hartford, Connecticut.
Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
FILE - OpenAI's ChatGPT app is displayed on an iPhone in New York, May 18, 2023. With companies deploying artificial intelligence to every corner of society, state lawmakers are playing catch-up with the first major proposals to reign in AI's penchant for discrimination — but those bills face blistering headwinds from every direction. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
Communities in the U.S. West and Canada were under siege from raging wildfires on Friday, as a fast-moving blaze sparked by lightning sent people fleeing on fire-ringed roads in rural Idaho and a human-caused inferno forced evacuations in northern California.
In eastern Oregon, a pilot was found dead in a small air tanker plane that crashed while fighting one of the many wildfires spreading across several Western states.
More than 110 active fires covering 2,800 square miles (7,250 square kilometers) were burning in the U.S. on Friday, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Some were caused by the weather, with climate change increasing the frequency of lightning strikes as the region endures record heat and bone-dry conditions.
Late Friday, a new wildfire blew up in Eastern Washington that threatened homes, the railroad, Interstate 90 and the community of Tyler, which was evacuated. The Columbia Basin fire in Spokane County closed part of Highway 904 between the interstate and Cheney. Multiple planes, helicopters and fire personnel were working hard to contain the fire, according to the Washington State Patrol.
Others were human-caused, like the Park Fire burning in Butte County, California, just northwest of the community of Paradise where the 2018 Camp Fire killed 85 people and incinerated thousands of homes.
Carli Parker is one of hundreds who fled their homes as the Park Fire pushed close. Parker decided to leave her Forest Ranch residence with her family when the fire began burning across the street. She has previously been forced out of two homes by fire, and she said she had little hope that her residence would remain unscathed.
“I think I felt like I was in danger because the police had come to our house because we had signed up for early evacuation warnings, and they were running to their vehicle after telling us that we need to self-evacuate and they wouldn’t come back,” said Parker, a mother of five.
More than 130 structures have been destroyed by the fire, and thousands more remain threatened. The state's largest active wildfire began Wednesday when a man pushed a burning car into a gully in Chico and then calmly blended in with others fleeing the scene, authorities said.
Ronnie Dean Stout, 42, of Chico, was arrested early Thursday and held without bail pending a Monday arraignment, officials said. There was no reply to an email to the district attorney asking whether the suspect had legal representation or someone who could comment on his behalf.
By Friday evening, the fire had burned more than 374 square miles (969 square kilometers) across the Sierra Nevada foothills above the city of 100,000. It remained zero percent contained.
Fire crews were making progress on another complex of fires burning in the Plumas National Forest near the California-Nevada line, said Forest Service spokesperson Adrienne Freeman. Most of the 1,000 residents evacuated by the lightning-sparked Gold Complex fires were returning home Friday. Some crews were peeling off to help battle the Park Fire near Chico.
“As evidenced by the (Park) fire to the West, some of these fires are just absolutely exploding and burning at rates of spread that it is just hard to even imagine,” Tim Hike, Forest Service incident commander of the Gold Complex fire about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Reno, said Friday. “The fire does not look that bad right up until it does. And then that just might be too late."
Forest Ranch evacuee Sherry Alpers, fled with her 12 small dogs and made the decision to stay in her car outside a Red Cross shelter in Chico after learning that animals would not be allowed inside. She ruled out traveling to another shelter after learning the dogs would be kept in cages, since her dogs have always roamed free at her home.
Alpers said she doesn’t know whether the fire spared her home or not, but she said that as long as her dogs are safe, she doesn't care about the material things.
“I’m kind of worried, but not that much," she said. “If it’s gone, it’s gone.”
Brian Bowles was also staying in his car outside the shelter with his dog Diamon. He said he doesn't know if his mobile home is still standing.
Bowles said he only has a $100 gift card he received from United Way, which handed them out to evacuees.
“Now the question is, do I get a motel room and comfortable for one night? Or do I put gas in the car and sleep in here?" he said. “Tough choice.”
In Oregon, a Grant County Search and Rescue team on Friday morning located a small single-engine air tanker that had disappeared while fighting the 219-square-mile (567 square kilometers) Falls Fire burning near the town of Seneca and the Malheur National Forest. The pilot died, said Bureau of Land Management information officer Lisa Clark. No one else was aboard the bureau-contracted aircraft when it went down in steep, forested terrain.
The most damage so far has been to the Canadian Rockies’ Jasper National Park, where a fast-moving wildfire forced 25,000 people to flee and devastated the park’s namesake town, a World Heritage site.
In Idaho, lightning strikes sparked fast-moving wildfires and the evacuation of multiple communities. The fires were burning on about 31 square miles (80.3 square kilometers) Friday afternoon.
Videos posted to social media include a man who said he heard explosions as he fled Juliaetta, about 27 miles (43 kilometers) southeast of the University of Idaho’s campus in Moscow. The town of just over 600 residents was evacuated Thursday just ahead of roaring fires, as were several other communities near the Clearwater River and the Nez Perce Tribal Hatchery Complex, which breeds salmon.
There’s no estimate yet on the number of buildings burned in Idaho, nor is there information about damage to urban communities, officials said Friday morning.
Oregon still has the biggest active blaze in the United States, the Durkee Fire, which combined with the Cow Fire to burn nearly 630 square miles (1,630 square kilometers). It remains unpredictable and was only 20% contained Friday, according to the government website InciWeb.
The National Interagency Fire Center said more than 27,000 fires have burned more than 5,800 square miles (15,000 square kilometers) in the U.S. this year, and in Canada, more than 8,000 square miles (22,800 square kilometers) have burned in more than 3,700 fires so far, according to its National Wildland Fire Situation Report issued Wednesday.
Associated Press writers Holly Ramer, Sarah Brumfield, Claire Rush, Terry Chea, Scott Sonner, Martha Bellisle and Amy Hanson contributed to this report.
This photo provided by the Butte County District Attorney shows Ronnie Dean Stout II, 42, of Chico, Calif. Stout was arrested early Thursday, July 25, 2024, by Cal Fire arson investigators, assisted by District Attorney investigators, on suspicion of starting the Park Fire. (Butte County District Attorney via AP)
Trees and vegetation go up in flames at the River Fire Thursday, July 25, 2024, nearby Myrtle, Idaho. Lightning strikes have sparked fast-moving wildfires in Idaho, prompting the evacuation of multiple communities. (August Frank/Lewiston Tribune via AP)
A home owner keeps his roof wet to keep embers from taking hold as Cal Fire Riverside County firefighters battle the Macy Fire in Lake Elsinore, Calif., on Thursday, July 25, 2024. (Terry Pierson/The Orange County Register via AP)
People evacuate their horse as the the River Fire moves through wheat fields Thursday, July 25, 2024, as seen from near Culdesac, Idaho. Lightning strikes have sparked fast-moving wildfires in Idaho, prompting the evacuation of multiple communities. (August Frank/Lewiston Tribune via AP)
A vehicle drives past the spreading River Fire Thursday, July 25, 2024, near Myrtle, Idaho, before U.S. Highway 12 was closed. Lightning strikes have sparked fast-moving wildfires in Idaho, prompting the evacuation of multiple communities. (August Frank/Lewiston Tribune via AP)
A dog being safeguarded by fire support personnel sits beside Cohasset Rd. as the Park Fire burns in the Cohasset community in Butte County, Calif., on Thursday, July 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Cal Fire firefighter Christian Moorhouse, center, monitors the flames while defends a mobile home during the Park Fire in the community of Cohasset near Chico, Calif., Thursday, July 25, 2024. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Seen from Chico, Calif., an air tanker passes a plume from the Park Fire burning in Butte County on Thursday, July 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Animals evacuate as the Park Fire burns through the Cohasset community of Butte County, Calif., on Thursday, July 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Firefighter Christian Moorhouse battles the Park Fire tears through the Cohasset community in Butte County, Calif., on Thursday, July 25, 2024. His crew was able to keep flames from reaching the mobile home they were protecting. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
The Park Fire burns along Highway 32 in the Forest Ranch community of Butte County, Calif., on Thursday, July 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Firefighter Christian Moorhouse battles the Park Fire tears through the Cohasset community in Butte County, Calif., on Thursday, July 25, 2024. His crew was able to keep flames from reaching the mobile home they were protecting. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Firefighter Christian Moorhouse jumps over a fence while battling the Park Fire in the Cohasset community of Butte County, Calif., on Thursday, July 25, 2024. His crew was able to keep flames from reaching the mobile home they were protecting. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Seen in a long exposure photograph, the Park Fire burns along Highway 32 in the Forest Ranch community of Butte County, Calif., on Thursday, July 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
The Park Fire burns along Highway 32 in the Forest Ranch community of Butte County, Calif., on Thursday, July 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Firefighters spray water while battling the Park Fire in the Cohasset community of Butte County, Calif., on Thursday, July 25, 2024. The crew was able to keep flames from reaching the mobile home they were protecting. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Seen in a long exposure photograph, the Park Fire burns along Highway 32 in the Forest Ranch community of Butte County, Calif., on Thursday, July 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
