Last week, I spoke with Dr. Matthew Neale, organizational psychologist and vice president of assessment products at Criteria Corp., a company providing tools to help HR teams make evidence-based talent decisions. When I asked him about the potential impact of HR tech-related legislation, he told me that dozens of AI-related bills are being introduced in states across the U.S.
As of September 2023, according to BSA | The Software Alliance, state lawmakers had proposed 440% more AI-related bills last year than in all of 2022. Only 14 of those crossed the finish line to become law, but as Neale pointed out, state-level action indicates where future AI legislation is likely to arise.
“State lawmakers are not waiting on Congress to act on AI—and they are going to continue to push forward with their own proposals to set rules for artificial intelligence,” Matthew Lenz, senior director of state advocacy at BSA, said in a release.
According to BSA | The Software Alliance, municipal leaders in Boston, Miami, San Jose and other cities have established AI guidelines to deal with wide-ranging topics—some of which impact employers—including generative AI, automated employment decision systems and impact assessments. And, of course, most HR leaders are up to speed on New York City’s Automated Employment Decision Tool law. But, alas, when researchers from Cornell University analyzed nearly 400 employers, they discovered only 18 of them had complied with the law.
The European Union serves as the world’s template for AI regulation, according to Neale, and so far, the U.S. and other countries like Australia and the U.K. don’t yet have comprehensive plans that match. I look forward to hearing from European HR leaders at the upcoming HR Tech Europe in Amsterdam, where EEOC commissioner Keith Sonderling will give a keynote on Regulating HR Technology: Global Regulators Perspectives. If you will be there, let me know!
On with the news…
HR tech in action
ADP announced Assist, a cross-platform client solution fueled by gen AI. “It anticipates what users want and proactively delivers actionable insights in plain language,” according to a release. ADP Assist is available now for select clients, with plans for a future rollout to all clients.
Venture capital firm Acadian Ventures announced Fund II this week, a $30 million early-stage fund focused on work technologies. Acadian focuses on intelligent work applications, work infrastructure, new regulations and compliance, and the emerging global workforce.
This week, compensation market data org Compa publicized $10 million Series A funding led by Storm Ventures. Pay transparency is Compa’s focus. “We envision a world where knowing competitive pay is as easy as looking up what Microsoft’s stock price closed at yesterday,” according to a release from the firm.
More from HRE
Are job seekers receptive to being assessed by AI? HRE’s sister publication, HRM Asia, wrote about measuring applicant trust in AI-enabled hiring tools. See what they found out.
HR tech in Europe and the U.S. is generally the same, but the driving forces behind adoption and use differ, according to European analysts Mervyn Dinnen and Matt Alder.
Jodi Romero, founder of HR tech unicorn Factorial, told HRE that 2024 is the year to focus on data security, AI and automation and “strategic considerations.” Hear from Romero.
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