Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., questions witnesses during a roundtable on Supreme Court ethics hosted by House Oversight Committee Democrats in Washington, DC on June 11, 2024. Lee introduced legislation Nov. 1 that would require agencies to create an office focused on civil rights and their use of AI technology. ALLISON BAILEY/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images
House Dems join push to create AI-focused civil rights offices across government
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., would require that federal agencies “utilizing, funding or overseeing AI” establish civil rights offices to address algorithmic bias.
Several House Democrats proposed legislation on Friday that would direct all federal agencies using artificial intelligence technologies to establish civil rights offices focused on mitigating bias posed by the emerging capabilities.
The bill — introduced by Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., and co-sponsored by 10 other Democrats — is a companion proposal to legislation previously introduced by Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., in the upper chamber last December.
Lee’s office said in a press release that the bills would require agencies “utilizing, funding or overseeing AI” to have a dedicated civil rights office to “identify, prevent and address algorithmic bias, ensuring staff have the expertise to analyze and rectify discriminatory outcomes.”
According to the Department of Justice, there are currently 32 civil rights offices spread across the federal government. Markey previously said, however, that “many are not required to secure staff with the expertise needed to advise the agency on algorithmic bias and discrimination.”
In addition to creating new civil rights offices, the legislation would also direct these entities to submit reports to Congress outlining their efforts to mitigate risks posed by algorithmic bias, as well as provide recommendations for addressing discrimination caused by AI.
Lee’s office cited several instances in which AI-powered tools used by federal agencies have produced biased results to underscore the need for more oversight of the emerging capabilities.
In one case, the Department of Veterans Affairs used an algorithm to “identify high-risk patients who may benefit from care management programs, palliative care and hospice or other resources.” VA found in a 2021 review, however, that the tool “underestimates mortality risk to some extent for Black veterans, suggesting that its fairness could be improved.”
Within one year of the bill’s enactment, DOJ officials would also be required to create an interagency working group focused on addressing concerns around AI and civil rights.
“Algorithmic bias doesn’t just affect individuals; it deepens systemic inequalities that marginalized communities face every day,” Lee said in a statement, adding that without proper oversight, these tools “could cause irreversible harm to Black, brown, low-income and other vulnerable communities.”
The House proposal comes just after the one-year anniversary of the release of President Joe Biden’s executive order on the safe and secure use of AI technologies. The federal directive established safeguards around agencies’ uses of the tools.
In an October press release marking the order’s anniversary, the White House said the DOJ's Civil Rights Division had already brought together civil rights offices and government officials “to foster AI and civil rights coordination.”
DOJ also announced in April that several Cabinet-level agencies — including the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development and Labor — joined a pledge to “uphold America’s commitment to core principles of fairness, equality and justice as new technologies like artificial intelligence become more common in daily life.”