The Coming Onslaught of 'Algorithmic Fairness' Regulations

A potential avalanche of “algorithmic fairness” regulations is looming that, if triggered, would thunder through our economy with one of the most significant expansions of economic and social regulation – and the power of the administrative state – in recent history. Federal and state policymakers from both parties are currently considering a variety of new mandates for artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and automated systems. These new mandates are being pushed to address everything from hate speech, social media content moderation policies, child safety, anti-discrimination issues, privacy, and various other amorphous goals. These measures would empower government bureaucrats at many different agencies to regulate the minutiae of computer programs that will power the next great industrial revolution. If algorithmic fairness mandates snowball, the accumulating regulations threaten to derail the computational capabilities of the U.S. economy and weaken America’s ability to compete globally for AI technology, which could let China and other nations race ahead. Taken together, the rise of algorithmic fairness regulations would deal a severe blow to the permissionless innovation vision that fueled the Digital Revolution over the past quarter century