Adam S. Forman, Nathaniel M. Glasser, Members of the Firm, and Christopher Lech, Associate, co-authored an article in the Bloomberg Law Daily Labor Report, titled “INSIGHT: Covid-19 May Push More Companies to Use AI as Hiring Tool.”

Following is an excerpt:

Whether employers are currently operating as normal, teleworking, or planning for the future, the Covid-19 experience may lead them to turn to the proliferation of workplace artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help streamline recruiting and hiring so they can continue maintaining social distancing best practices.

Employers should be aware, however, that using such AI tools brings with it various regulatory challenges regardless of its utility in these trying times.

AI’s Growing Influence on Employment

AI has been exerting an ever-growing influence on companies’ employment decision-making for some time. AI tools that have long been used to market services and products to customers (e.g., algorithms for personalized pop-up ads) are making increasing inroads into the employment arena, including those that mine data from an applicant’s social media and internet presence to determine personal attributes and those that evaluate an applicant’s responses during a video interview in making employment decisions.

Employers considering using AI recruitment and selection tools during the Covid-19 crisis, which some experts expect to last for months after the curve has “flattened,” should be mindful of the potential for misuse and of discriminatory impact raised by these technologies.

While federal and state laws exist prohibiting discrimination in the recruiting and selection process, as well as throughout employment, until recently there has been minimal legal guidance on or regulation of employers’ use of AI. This regulatory landscape is changing, as states and municipalities have started to take steps to regulate AI’s use, particularly for recruitment and hiring.

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