I was a guest on Chad and Cheese’s “The Shred” Podcast today. Listen to it now, read the transcript below or, do both. Yes, both would be good. 😉
Housebill 2557 is now known as the “Artificial Intelligence Video Interview Act.”
The Act prohibits Illinois employers from using “artificial intelligence” to evaluate a job applicant’s video interview unless the employer does three things first:
- 1 – employer notifies the applicant that they will be using AI in the video interview process,
- 2 – employer explains to the applicant “how the artificial intelligence works”
- 3 – employer obtains consent from the applicant to use artificial intelligence in the video interview; before the interview begins
The Act also also requires employers to delete the video interviews within 30 days of request by the applicant.
Oboy…
Now, I imagine companies like Hirevue are quite concerned about this little development as it seems that this bit of legislation is targeting them specifically, and maybe other video interviewing platforms in the space like Montage, Gecko, Panna and Autoview
Does this legislation spell doom to them all, at least in Illinois? Umm… I doubt it. I imagine lawyers having a field day with this one based on what I read in JDSupra. For those who don’t know, JDSupra is a website that does legal analysis and it had a field day tearing this ACT apart. Here are three quotes that caught most of my attention:
- “[Artificial Intelligence]” is not defined in the Act. Here, Illinois assumes that the term is self-evident, which is not necessarily true. For instance, would assigning scores to an applicant based on tone of voice, facial expressions and word choice via algorithmic means count? (seems like “yes”) What about using an algorithm to automatically create a transcript of the interview? (seems like “maybe”) What about use of an algorithm to smooth and/or edit the video to key moments? (seems like “possibly”)
- The Act vaguely requires the employer to describe “how the artificial intelligence works” as well as “what general types of characteristics” the AI uses to evaluate applicants. We would expect describing the “how” would be challenging to do with any degree of specificity, particularly since the details of the algorithm are likely not fully-known to the employer…
- The law requires all copies of videos (expressly “including all … backups”) to be deleted within 30 days of the request. While sounding simple in concept, the vendors and customers in this space may have difficulty actually implementing this, particularly if third party cloud providers or similar are used, which may not allow complete deletion of all backups…
That’s the end of all my JDSupra quotes. Hmm… What to do, what to do?
Maybe the hrtech industry should pool their resources and hire lobbyists to explain the benefits of AI and other emerging technologies in the recruitment process; because judging by this Act, which may or may not be ready for prime time, politicians are swift to react to the fear inherent in the rapid pace of technological change. Or rather, the fears of their voting constituents.
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Hi, Jim. Wanted to let you know that HireVue supports this new Illinois legislation. It doesn’t call for anything more than what we’ve always worked with our customers to provide for their candidates and it’s similar to what the GDPR requires: notification that they’re being assessed by an AI-driven product and the right to have their applications and interview data deleted. We believe candidates should have these rights and this notification, and we’re happy to support our customers in meeting and even exceeding these requirements.
Good to know! Thanks for the feedback.