AI RMF

AI systems may be subject to specific applicable legal and regulatory requirements. Some legal requirements can mandate (e.g., nondiscrimination, data privacy and security controls) documentation, disclosure, and increased AI system transparency. These requirements are complex and may not be applicable or differ across applications and contexts. For example, AI system testing processes for bias measurement, such as disparate impact, are not applied uniformly within the legal context. Disparate impact is broadly defined as a facially neutral policy or practice that disproportionately harms a group based on a protected trait. Notably, some modeling algorithms or debiasing techniques that rely on demographic information, could also come into tension with legal prohibitions on disparate treatment (i.e., intentional discrimination). Additionally, some intended users of AI systems may not have consistent or reliable access to fundamental internet technologies (a phenomenon widely described as the “digital divide”) or may experience difficulties interacting with AI systems due to disabilities or impairments. Such factors may mean different communities experience bias or other negative impacts when trying to access AI systems. Failure to address such design issues may pose legal risks, for example in employment related activities affecting persons with disabilities.