Algorithmic Discrimination and Equal Protection: Rethinking Anti-Discrimination Law in the AI Era

Abstract

Algorithmic discrimination becomes a nightmare, especially as artificial intelligence systems continue to affect citizenry in the field of employment, housing, credit, policing, and healthcare. We can expect such technologies to be efficient and objective, however, they tend to recreate or intensify historical biases enshrined in data or decision-making settings. The present paper poses the question of whether current anti-discrimination/equal protection legislation is sufficient to deal with the harms caused by algorithms. It holds the position that the opacity, scale, speed of AI-based decisions cannot be adequately dealt with by traditional legal systems, most of which were created in the pre-digital age. The paper is based on a critical assessment of the current trends in global regulation to define the evolutions of the anti-discrimination norms that have to be implemented to achieve the aims of algorithmic equity and accountability. The study suggests a multifaceted legal policy combining regulatory creativity, demands of algorithmic transparency, and rephrasing of discriminatory intent to reflect its online manifestation.