On February 7, 2024, House Bill 7521 for an Act relating to Automated Decision Tools was introduced to the Rhode Island House of Representatives and thereafter referred, on the same date, to the House Innovation Committee. The bill amends Title 42 of General Laws, namely State Affairs and Government.

The bill defines an 'automated decision tool' as 'a system or service that uses artificial intelligence and has been specifically developed and marketed to, or specifically modified to, make or be a controlling factor in making consequential decisions.'

While a 'consequential decision' is provided as a decision or judgment that has a legal, material, or similarly significant effect on an individual's life relating to the impact of, access to, or the cost, terms, or availability of:

• employment, including pay, promotion, hiring, task allocation;
• education;
• house or lodging;
• essential utilities;
• family planning;
• financial services; or
• healthcare.

Algorithmic assessments

The bill provides that on or before January 1, 2025, and annually thereafter, a deployer of an automated decision tool (ADT) must perform an impact assessment for any ADT the deployer uses, including:

• a statement of purpose, context, and deployment benefits;
• a description of the ADT's output and how they are used to make or be a controlling factor in a consequential decision;
• a summary of the type of data collected and processed when making a consequential decision or being a controlling factor;
• adverse impacts from the use of the ADT;
• a description of safeguards implemented or that will be implemented; and
• a description of how the ADT will be used by a natural person or monitored.

The bill also stated that a developer must also complete an assessment of the ADT annually and document such assessment. The bill further explicitly states that deployers must not use an ADT that results in algorithmic discrimination.

Notification and notice

According to the bill:

• deployers must, at or before the time an ADT is used to make a consequential decision, notify natural persons subject to the consequential decision that an ADT is being used to make, or be a controlling factor in making the consequential decision; 
• developers must also provide deployers with a statement regarding the intended uses of the ADT, documenting foreseeable risks of algorithmic discrimination, a description of the type of data used to train the ADT, and how the ADT was evaluated for validity and explainability; 
• deployers must, if technically feasible, accommodate natural persons' requests to not be subject to an ADT and to be subject to an alternative selection process or accommodation;
• developers or deployers must also establish, document, implement, and maintain a governance program that contains reasonable administrative and technical safeguards to map, measure, manage, and govern the foreseeable risks of algorithmic discrimination associated with the use of an ADT. This includes designating an employee responsible for overseeing the governance program, with the authority to assert the ADT fails to comply with the requirements of the bill. Employers must also complete an assessment on the assertion of the responsible employee, that the ADT fails to comply with the requirements of the bill; and
• deployers or developers must make publicly available a notice, in a readily accessible manner, outlining the types of ADT uses that are made available to others, and how they manage the reasonably foreseeable risks of algorithmic discrimination that may arise from its use.

You can read the bill here and track its progress by using the search interface here.

Update: March 8, 2024

Bill held by House Innovation, Internet, and Technology Committee

On February 15, 2024, the House Innovation, Internet, and Technology Committee recommended that the bill be held for further study.

You can read the bill here and track its progress by using the search interface here.