On May 18, 2023, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency charged with administering federal civil rights laws (including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), released a "technical assistance document" titled "Assessing Adverse Impact in Software, Algorithms, and Artificial Intelligence Used in Employment Selection Procedures Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”

This publication is the latest of the EEOC’s initiatives on AI, having previously held a public hearing on the use of automated systems, including artificial intelligence in employment decisions; releasing a joint statement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division (DOJ), and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reiterating how existing laws apply to AI; and emphasising AI as an area of focus in its Draft Strategic Enforcement Plan for 2023-2027. In this post, we provide a summary of the technical assistance document.