WASHINGTON – The Business Software Alliance (BSA) welcomes continued work from Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan to introduce the Automated Decisions Safety Act, a new version of AB2930, in the California State Assembly. BSA Senior Director of State Advocacy Heather Curry issued the following statement on the introduction of AB 1018: 

"BSA agrees with Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan that impact assessments and design evaluations for high-risk uses of artificial intelligence (AI) are critical tools to mitigate the risk of bias. Since 2021, BSA has put forth policy proposals on how developers and deployers can mitigate risks of bias throughout the AI value chain, including in our 'Confronting Bias: Framework to Build Trust in AI.”'

Legislation affecting AI must be workable in practice and create clarity so that businesses of all sizes in all industries can harness AI technologies to create jobs and grow. BSA is concerned about the overly broad scope, along with confusion about the different roles developers and users of AI can play, in the legislation as drafted. These are important examples of provisions that need improvement in order for the legislation to be able to work in practice.

California and a number of other states are advancing a worthwhile conversation about the use of AI in consequential decision-making. BSA members will continue to lead the way in creating trustworthy AI systems that mitigate risks of AI bias and continue to work constructively with lawmakers to help pursue workable rules for AI that build trust in technology and encourage widespread adoption."