EDF has joined the Disability Ethical? AI community to raise awareness about risks of discrimination against persons with disabilities during AI-supported hiring practices.
One of many priorities of EDF is to ensure that people with disabilities benefit from accessible new technologies, and that those technologies do not infringe on the rights of persons with disabilities, such as to non-discrimination and privacy. As EDF also advocates for the fundamental right of persons with disabilities to employment, enshrined in the UN CRPD, we complement this work by campaigning for strong legal safeguards against misuse of new technologies in the context of employment. Within the EU’s proposed Artificial Intelligence Act, EDF has been calling to prohibit AI-based recruitment technologies to safeguard against risks of exacerbating already existing discrimination and disproportionate levels of unemployment by persons with disabilities (e.g. only 20.6% of women with disabilities are in full time employment despite the existence of EU non-discrimination law, which aims to protect right of persons with disabilities, among others, in employment).
Joining the Disability Ethical? AI will allow EDF to raise awareness about risks of AI-powered hiring tools to a wider audience, not only at EU but international level. We join forces with other members of the Alliance, which include the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ILO’s Global Business Disability Network, Face Equality International, The World Bank, The Inclusive Design Research Centre (Canada), G3ICT, Centre for Democracy and Technology (CDT), New York University, among others.
Have you or someone you know been negatively impacted by Artificial Intelligence in employment or other context? Send your testimony to mher.hakobyan@edf-feph.org.