From artificial intelligence (AI) DJs and voice-activated devices at home to predictive text and AI assistants integrated into platforms like Outlook and Google, AI has quickly become an indelible part of our everyday lives. In 2024, the global market for AI is projected to exceed $184 billion.1
This year, workplaces in numerous industries were transformed as more companies sought to improve productivity by using AI tools for automated decision-making and content generation. For example, there has been an uptick in companies using AI systems to perform preliminary screenings of job applications before human review.2 Additionally, major sporting arenas3 and airports4 are using AI facial recognition technologies to verify ticketholders and amplify their on-site security programs. In the health care industry, hospitals and clinics are increasingly incorporating AI modules into their operational and clinical workflows, including AI-based systems that can increase the efficiency of scheduling and supporting medical examinations and surgeries. In the generative AI space, there has been a tremendous uptick in the use of AI tools to create movie scripts, visual and sound effects, art, advertisement media, innovations, software, and other digital products. More media companies are relying on generative AI to launch scripts, articles, and other digital media.
With 2025 approaching, businesses should expect further advancements in AI technology. But AI’s boon to businesses also heralds several compliance considerations, including:
- Bias: Organizations using AI for automated decision-making should carefully evaluate the risks of bias and discrimination claims as well as the potential for erosion of consumer trust and safety if their AI systems produce faulty outcomes.
- Infringement: Celebrities and intellectual property owners will continue to enforce their rights against the unlicensed use of their image, likeness, voice, and works.
- Self-Regulation: We also expect a rise in self-regulation by social media channels and platform providers, resulting in more “AI-generated” label requirements and terms that restrict or flag AI-generated deepfakes and content that depicts individuals in lewd and offensive contexts.
- Vulnerable Populations: We anticipate further restrictions on the use AI with respect to children, vulnerable populations, and applicants for jobs, educational enrollment, loans, credit cards, and insurance policies.
In 2024, lawmakers have issued a litany of laws regulating the AI space. In California alone, 18 new AI bills were signed into law in 2024, affecting several industries, including consumer products, health care, government, and employment. These laws join other legislative efforts, such as New York Local Law 144’s restrictions on the use of AI in the hiring and employment process, the Colorado AI Act’s obligations for AI developers in using reasonable care to protect consumers, and the Tennessee ELVIS Act’s imposition of criminal violations against unauthorized audio deepfakes. These laws present new legal and compliance challenges for any business utilizing AI tools in its operations.
Before implementing AI tools, organizations should conduct a risk assessment, determine an implementation plan that mitigates the risk of noncompliance, configure the AI tools to align with the plan, and implement an AI governance policy that provides for compliance monitoring, audits, training, and other reasonable compliance measures.
For more information about legal issues and compliance in the realm of AI, please contact Renato Smith-Bornfreedom, Data Security & Technology Practice Area co-chair, at rsmithbornfreedom@barclaydamon.com; Kevin Szczepanski, Data Security & Technology Practice Area co-chair, at kszczepanski@barclaydamon.com; Celine Dorsainvil, associate, at cdorsainvil@barclaydamon.com; Kat Delos Reyes, associate, at kdelos@barclaydamon.com; or another member of the firm’s Data Security & Technology Practice Area.
1Artificial Intelligence – Worldwide, STATISTA, https://www.statista.com/outlook/tmo/artificial-intelligence/worldwide (last visited Dec. 11, 2024).
2Jack Kelly, HOW AI HELPS EMPLOYERS SCREEN CANDIDATES, MANAGE STAFF AND MAKE HIRING AND FIRING DECISIONS FORBES (2024), https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2024/02/20/how-ai-helps-employers-screen-candidates-manage-staff-and-make-hiring-and-firing-decisions/ (last visited Dec 6, 2024).
3Kat Tenbarge, FACIAL RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY USE AT STADIUMS ACROSS U.S. SPARKS PROTESTS NBCNEWS.COM (2024), https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/facial-recognition-technology-use-stadiums-us-sparks-protests-rcna167410 (last visited Dec 6, 2024).
4Transportation Security Administration, FACIAL RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY, TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION https://www.tsa.gov/news/press/factsheets/facial-recognition-technology (last visited Dec 6, 2024).