California passes 13 AI laws: Bans firings driven solely by algorithms

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed 13 new laws on artificial intelligence (AI). According to the governor's office, several of them are the first of their kind in the US. The laws are meant to protect both workers and consumers.

The source also mentions that Newsom signed an executive order defining what artificial intelligence is. The text is written with a humorous angle.

Protection in the workplace

Some of the laws deal with how employers may use AI and surveillance:

- Employers may not rely solely on AI when deciding on a warning or a firing. A real person must also assess the case. - If a mass layoff, a relocation of the workplace or a firing is caused by an AI system, the employer must disclose it. - Employers may not use surveillance tools in workplace restrooms. - Public universities and colleges must provide training for students, faculty and staff in AI and in AI procurement. - Lawyers may not hand core legal work entirely over to AI, such as writing court filings or making legal assessments.

Lorena Gonzalez, head of the labor federation California Federation of Labor Unions, calls it an important step. She said of four of the laws: "Workers across California have demanded that our state lead the way in regulating AI in our workplaces. And today, we see that begin to happen." She says the laws set boundaries for AI on the job, so that humans oversee the technology, surveillance is limited, and workers come first.

Health and transparency

In health care, doctors and other licensed practitioners must still be able to use their own professional judgment, even when AI or other decision tools are part of the treatment. Developers of such tools must take reasonable steps to reduce known or foreseeable bias in how the systems are used.

Other laws aim to make it easier to see what has been made by AI:

- It will be illegal to remove a digital watermark. It must also be possible to access metadata, making it easier to determine whether something was made by AI or by a person. - California's AI transparency law (California AI Transparency Act) is being strengthened so that residents can recognize content made by AI. - It is established that public comments at local government meetings must come from real people and not from AI bots.

Newsom says, among other things, that AI should create more opportunities and not come at the expense of workers and families.