California’s policymakers are making efforts to regulate the use of artificial intelligence, especially as a way to combat algorithmic discrimination, including testing algorithms ahead of time and pushing for transparency in the use of tools like ChatGPT.
Introduced by the California State Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan in March, the AB 331 bill aims to ensure that AI systems that are used to directly impact “consequential decisions” about people—pertaining to factors such as employment, financial, medical and education—receive additional oversight.
This is to determine whether there’s going to be a potentially adverse impact on these important sectors, said Dominique Shelton Leipzig, a partner at the law firm Mayer Brown.
The bill also covers companies that use AI to determine the target audience for ads across these sectors, since certain decisions made based on these algorithms can have an impact on people’s lives, Leipzig added.
“Marketers should build the algorithms from the get-go with trusting minds,” said Leipzig, “instead of ignoring it and waiting for the worst to come back in two years as it did with privacy.”
As the ad industry shifts away from third-party cookies and towards algorithms to help match audiences, elements such as accuracy and bias checks need to be baked into systems when companies adopt AI tools. Regulators are concerned that, given the rapid developments around AI, these checks are being overlooked. As such, lawmakers in California and other states, including Washington and Minnesota, are picking up the pace to regulate. Meanwhile, industry leaders, including Elon Musk, have pushed for a moratorium on AI development.
Under the proposed bill, companies using ChatGPT4, such as Microsoft’s Bing, will be asked to be more transparent about the data that is being used ot train the AI models.
In addition, companies will be required to share their impact assessments for using such technology with the Civil Rights Department or face a fine of $10,000. This includes companies that use ChatGPT for customer service chatbots, such as Snap and Shopify.
The bill also contains a private right of action that allows any California resident to sue a company they think is in violation, after which the company has 45 days to remedy the violation.