Companies in Colorado are increasingly relying on AI-driven decision systems to make important decisions affecting the lives and careers of residents, often without their knowledge. Despite evidence that these systems can be biased and flawed, Colorado Senate Bill 24-205 aims to introduce transparency and accountability for such systems. However, more measures are needed to safeguard consumers and workers in the state.
A coalition of labor, consumer, civil rights, privacy, and other public interest groups is calling on policymakers to enhance the protections offered by the law. They emphasize that it should build upon existing civil rights and consumer protections already established under Colorado law.
The coalition highlights several key provisions they believe should be retained in the bill:
- A broad definition of covered systems to prevent companies from evading the law.
- Notification for consumers subjected to AI-driven decisions about the system's use and purpose.
- Impact assessments to test AI decision systems for discrimination risks while documenting their purpose, intended uses, data used and produced, performance, and post-deployment monitoring.
- A right for individuals to receive an explanation of principal reasons behind decisions made by AI systems with an option to appeal those decisions to a human decision-maker.
- Authority granted to the Attorney General for issuing rules interpreting and clarifying the law.
Furthermore, they suggest strengthening the bill by:
- Prohibiting discriminatory AI decision systems through existing civil rights protections.
- Expanding transparency provisions so consumers understand why companies use AI decision systems and what these tools measure.
- Enhancing impact assessment requirements ensuring companies test AI decision systems' validity against consumer protection laws among others.
- Closing loopholes excluding certain consumers or companies from legal obligations while removing unnecessary rebuttable presumptions allowing companies escape accountability.
- Strengthening enforcement mechanisms allowing consumers or local district attorneys seek redress when non-compliance occurs.
The statement concludes with optimism about Colorado leading national policy efforts regarding responsible development/use of automated decision-making technologies. "We are pleased," they state,"to see Colorado taking steps toward careful AI regulation." They stress continued collaboration among stakeholders is essential as other states look towards this legislation as a model; hence crafting effective policies protecting resident rights/privacy whilst encouraging innovation remains crucial.
Signatories include: ACLU of Colorado; AFT–Colorado; Colorado AFL-CIO; Teamsters Local 455; Towards Justice; American Association People Disabilities (AAPD); Center American Progress (CAP); Center Democracy Technology (CDT); Consumer Federation America (CFA); Consumer Reports (CR); Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), Tech Equity Action among others involved advocating stronger regulations surrounding artificial intelligence applications across various sectors within society today.
