White House unveils AI Bill of Rights to protect people from ‘abusive’ artificial intelligence
Blueprint includes protections against ‘deeply harmful’ algorithmic discrimination
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
US President Joe Biden has released a blueprint for an ‘AI Bill of Rights’ that aims to protect citizens against potential harms associated with artificial intelligence.
First proposed by the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) last year, the bill outlines ways to hold companies more accountable for the technology they develop.
It includes protections against abusive data practices, algorithmic discrimination, pervasive tracking, and unsafe systems.
“Too often, these tools are used to limit our opportunities and prevent our access to critical resources or services,” the bill states.
“These outcomes are deeply harmful – but they are not inevitable... Fueled by the power of American innovation, these tools hold the potential to redefine every part of our society and make life better for everyone. This important progress must not come at the price of civil rights or democratic values.”
The framework set out in the blueprint applies to automated systems that have the potential to “meaningfully impact” the American public’s rights, opportunities, or access to critical resources or services.
“This is the Biden-Harris administration really saying that we need to work together, not only just across government, but across all sectors, to really put equity at the centre and civil rights at the centre of the ways that we make and use and govern technologies,” Alondra Nelson, deputy director for science and society at the OSTP, told reporters.
“We can and should expect better and demand better from our technologies.”
The European Union is also planning legislation aimed at regulating the sector and introducing checks for “high risk” artificial intelligence systems through the AI Act.
It includes a new bill called the AI Liability Directive, which is expected to pass into law within the next two years, would make it easier for consumers to launch EU-wide class action lawsuits.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments