State Actions
States are also considering approaches to address the use of AI in the workplace.
Bias and Discrimination
States have enacted legislation to address potential biases in AI technologies used for hiring employees, conducting employee evaluations and other employment decisions. For example, Illinois enacted the Artificial Intelligence Video Interview Act in 2019, which requires employers who use AI to analyze video interviews to provide notice to the applicant, obtain their consent and offer an explanation of the technology used. Amendments to the Illinois Human Rights Act add protections for applicants against discrimination while using AI in recruitment, hiring, promotion, professional development and other employment decisions. New Jersey and Vermont introduced similar legislation in recent years. Maryland enacted a bill in 2020 to prohibit an employer from using facial recognition during an applicant’s interview for employment, unless the applicant provides consent. Colorado enacted a risk-based AI law in 2024 that prohibits algorithmic discrimination in consequential decision-making, including employment decisions.
Data Privacy
Twenty states have enacted comprehensive consumer data privacy laws with elements such as disclosure, notification, retention, right to opt out and securing data. In some states, consumer data privacy laws are applicable in employment decision-making scenarios; in other cases, they provide protection for employees while they are working.
Employment Decisions
Consumer data privacy laws passed in Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Montana, Texas and Virginia protect consumers during decisions that produce “legal or similarly significant effects,” including decisions that result in the provision or denial of employment opportunities, as well as decisions such as those related to housing, mortgages and access to banking.
Secured Employee Data
Some state data privacy laws include protection of employment data. For example, California’s consumer data protection law protects state residents’ personal information, including employment-related data. In contrast, Colorado’s law does not include employees or job applicants in the definition of “consumer,” though it does require employers to protect employee information, such as Social Security numbers and financial data, by implementing security measures to prevent unauthorized access.
Surveillance
AI surveillance tools are increasing being used in workplaces. These tools can enhance efficiency and security, but also raise concerns about privacy, employee autonomy and potential misuse. While many states are debating how to address the use of surveillance tools, some have long-standing laws related to employee surveillance. In both Connecticut and Delaware, employers must obtain consent from employees before monitoring them, unless there are reasonable grounds to believe an employee is violating the law or creating a hostile work environment. These laws also include prohibitions of surveillance in areas like restrooms and breakrooms. In West Virgina, any electronic surveillance device or system for monitoring or recording the activities of employees in a locker room, shower room or restroom is prohibited. In California, an employer is prohibited from making an audio or video recording of an employee in the locker room, restroom or any room designated for changing clothes.
Impact Studies
States are also studying the potential impacts of AI, including how the new technology will affect the workforce, individual employees and their safety. Delaware created a commission to identify the general and high-risk uses of generative AI within the state’s executive, legislative and judicial branches. Pennsylvania created an advisory committee to study AI and its potential impacts across different sectors of the economy. Oregon appropriated funds to the University of Oregon to research the potential workforce impacts from automation and AI across the state’s key economic industries.
Upskilling, Education and Training for the AI Workplace
The integration of AI in the workplace has raised concerns about potential job displacement, as machines take over tasks that were previously done by humans. AI can threaten job security and exacerbate economic inequality for lower-income workers whose skills become obsolete. Even more troublesome is data from a report released this year by McKinsey and Co. demonstrating that Black Americans are overrepresented in roles most likely to be taken over by automation, including four of the top five occupations at risk of automation: office support, production work, food services, and mechanical installation and repair.
On the other hand, AI will create new roles requiring different types of skill sets that workers can learn through upskilling programs and other development opportunities. For example, as AI technologies evolve, there will be a growing demand for professionals with AI-related skills, such as AI researchers, machine learning engineers, data scientists and AI ethicists. Both government and industry are exploring new ways to mitigate negative consequences for the workforce and seeking strategies to fill the new roles created to respond to AI. The federal government, states, educational institutions and private industry are taking varied approaches to mitigate negative impacts and optimize potential opportunities.
The Biden administration is pushing for more skills-based hiring, which has made lifting education requirements for AI-related jobs more common. This approach recognizes that practical experience and specialized skills can be as useful as formal degrees in AI-related fields. The administration created AI.gov, which focuses on promoting AI-related career opportunities in the U.S. government and building AI governance structures within federal agencies. The site highlights the administration’s efforts to ensure safe, secure and trustworthy AI, and help individuals explore AI career paths.
The Office of Personnel Management issued new skills-based hiring guidance, focused on hiring AI professionals. The Office of Management and Budget and the General Services Administration have launched a pilot program offering free AI training for federal employees. Moving forward, the agencies will continue to provide AI training modules for federal staff, tailored to meet the needs of various agencies. The Office of Management and Budget aims to ensure that AI technologies are used safely, securely and effectively to enhance government operations and service delivery.
States have started to propose and enact laws to protect employees from job displacement resulting from AI and to help grow an AI workforce. In the 2024 legislative session, Maryland created a program to increase access to high-quality job training. California introduced a bill to create a pilot program to aid individuals who are unemployed because of automation or AI. New Jersey created a tax credit for AI companies that create new jobs. In contrast, a bill was introduced in New York to disqualify entities from receiving the state’s film production tax credit if they used AI to displace workers.
Various corporations, labor unions, higher education institutions and nonprofit organizations are working together to create sustainable systems for AI use in the workplace. One of the most notable partnerships is between Microsoft and the AFL-CIO trade union. This partnership aims to ensure that AI technology is developed and used in ways that incorporate the perspectives of workers and labor unions, mitigating risks and enhancing benefits for the workforce. The partnership will create formal learning opportunities for workers and students to help with the transition to an AI-powered workforce. Partnerships like this can help to ensure that workers are not only prepared but integral to the future of technology and AI adoption.
With the use of AI expanding, Intel is working with over 110 community colleges and other education partners to roll out an AI education workforce program to help students learn how AI works and develop skills around its use. Intel also has a course designed for working professionals, which teaches workers how to use AI in project management and other professional environments. In addition, companies like IBM are offering upskilling programs to help students and adults gain the skills necessary to secure jobs, advance in the workplace and stay competitive in a rapidly advancing industry
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is spearheading work on AI and workforce issues in academia through its Task Force on the Work of the Future. The task force released one of the first academic reports, “The Work of the Future,” on the possible impacts of AI on workers and the workforce, as well as possible solutions. MIT’s research included numerous considerations for policymakers as AI replaces certain work. More recently, the university launched its Shaping the Future of Work Initiative, which focuses more specifically on changing educational systems and emphasizing the inequitable impacts of AI on low-wage workers.
Finally, Jobs for the Future, one of the biggest workforce nonprofits, created the Center for Artificial Intelligence & the Future of Work. In late 2023, the center released its report “The AI-Ready Workforce,” detailing the need for durable, human skills in the age of AI as well as the importance of preparing society and institutions for the increased use of the technology.