Hello all, and happy Thursday!
It looks like I won’t be replaced by Peter Weller in a robot suit anytime soon—at least not in California. The state continues to regulate the use of AI in the workplace with its “No Robo Bosses” Act.
If signed by Governor Newsom, the act would regulate the use of AI for terminations, promotions, disciplinary actions, and the like. Automated systems can’t make these decisions on their own; a human needs to be in the loop.
Unfortunately, taken as a whole, human beings are pretty poor decision-makers. Employers make prejudiced decisions against their employees on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, and any number of other characteristics. AI systems, trained on our behavior, will simply perpetuate those biases.
Regulations like the “No Robo Bosses” are, in that sense, optimistic. The hope is that we’ll be able to rise above the older, backwards, and inaccurate biases represented in AI’s training data. Even if you’re pessimistic about flesh-and-blood humans’ ability to be unbiased, you have to admit—it's at least possible for unprejudiced individuals to be elevated to decision-making positions. If we all abdicate decision-making responsibilities to AI, then those aggregate biases can only be perpetuated.
Best,
Arlo
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Following a BBB National Programs’ Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) investigation, MrBeast’s and his affiliate Feastables were found to have violated CARU’s Advertising Guidelines, CARU’s Privacy Guidelines, and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). CARU found that MrBeast’s YouTube channel misleadingly displayed ads without identifying them as such, collected children’s personally identifiable information without first obtaining parental consent, and more.
A European Commission official asserts that the Commission is not considering a pause of the implementation phase of the AI Act despite a growing chorus of recent calls for it to do so.
“There is not going to be an overall moratorium on the AI Act,” said Yvo Volman, director for data at the Commission. “That is not on the table. We are focusing on making the rules work in practice.”
Recently, the European Commission held a meeting with the tech industry to discuss the handling of cookies and consent banners. A note sent to industry and civil society attending a focus group on Sept. 15, seen by POLITICO, showed the Commission is pondering how to tweak the rules to include more exceptions or make sure users can set their preferences on cookies once (for example, in their browser settings) instead of every time they visit a website.
California lawmakers have taken a significant step forward in regulating the use of AI in the workplace by passing SB 7, a bill aptly referred to as the “No Robo Bosses” Act. If Governor Newsom signs the bill into law—a decision he must make by September 30, 2025—SB 7 would take effect on January 1, 2026, and would have an immediate impact, including prohibiting employers from relying solely on AI to make decisions regarding employee discipline or termination.
The San Francisco Police Department is the latest California law enforcement agency to get caught sharing automated license plate reader (ALPR) data with out-of-state and federal agencies. EFF and the ACLU of Northern California are calling them out for this direct violation of California law, which has put every driver in the city at risk and is especially dangerous for immigrants, abortion seekers, and other targets of the federal government.
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