Civil rights advocates call for guardrails, not giveaways
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: [email protected]
WASHINGTON — Alejandra Montoya-Boyer, senior director of The Leadership Conference’s Center for Civil Rights and Technology, issued the following statement in response to the administration’s executive order on the procurement of large language model AI systems and AI Action Plan released today:
“There is no such thing as woke AI. There’s AI that discriminates and gives biased responses, and there’s AI that actually works for real people. The administration’s executive order on ‘Woke AI’ fails to recognize that truth. The only way we can ensure U.S.-made AI dominance is to ensure the products actually work. AI that fails to respect our rights — especially models that lead to more expensive and worse health care, more denials of home loans to working families who deserve them, and more qualified candidates getting turned away from good jobs — is not innovative. This executive order is a license to discriminate for profit and a giveaway to tech companies in exchange for our safety and security.
“The administration also released its AI Action Plan today that recommends removing any federal safeguards against misinformation, discrimination, or climate impacts. The plan also revives efforts to gut state and local AI laws, attempting to implement what 99 senators rightfully stripped from the Big Ugly Bill and what countless advocates and state leaders from across the political spectrum opposed. This administration thinks that they and a few Big Tech CEOs should be able to move fast and break things, without care for who or what they break or without guardrails to keep the rest of us safe.
“But the majority of people in the United States agree: We need guardrails that protect us against the harm of unchecked AI, not giveaways to tech corporations. Our representatives in Congress still have the power to pass common sense safeguards — like requiring regular audits, prohibiting the use of discriminatory algorithms, and increasing transparency and accountability tools — that protect everyone against faulty and biased AI. Private companies that create and use AI don’t have to wait for the administration or Congress to catch up. Corporate leaders can do right by their obligation to our civil rights by following our Innovation Framework to ensure their technology truly innovates, rather than discriminates.”
The Innovation Framework is a new guiding document for companies that invest in, create, and use AI to ensure that their AI systems protect and promote civil rights and are fair, trusted, and safe for all of us, especially communities historically pushed to the margins.
The Center for Civil Rights and Technology (Center) is a joint project of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund. The Center, launched in September 2023, serves as a one-of-its-kind hub for advocacy, education, and research at the intersection of civil rights and technology policy. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.
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