New Framework from the Center for Civil Rights and Technology Ensures AI Systems Are Innovative, Fair, and Trusted

Innovation Framework guides companies to protect and promote civil and human rights as they create, use, and invest in AI development and deployment 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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WASHINGTON — The Leadership Conference’s Center for Civil Rights and Technology released today its Innovation Framework, a new guiding document for companies that invest in, create, and use artificial intelligence (AI), to ensure that their AI systems protect and promote civil rights and are fair, trusted, and safe for all of us, especially communities historically pushed to the margins.

The use of AI systems continues to grow in every facet of life — in critical areas like health care, housing, law enforcement, education, and employment — and while AI has the promise to improve people’s lives, the room for error is too great to forgo safety and accountability. The Innovation Framework serves as a proactive vision for emerging AI products, tools, and services. It consists of four Foundational Values for managing long-term business strategy and decisions and ten specific Lifecycle Pillars aligned with the AI development and deployment pipeline to ensure these values are implemented in practice and that the technology truly works. This Framework was built with input from a diverse array of stakeholders, representing industry, including leading developers and deployers of AI,  civil society, and academia. 

“American-made AI will succeed when our rights lead the way. AI can help or harm real people. No person or community should have to worry whether shoddy AI will flood the market and wash away their hopes rather than ease their way. When companies refuse to ensure that their AI innovates rather than discriminates, it can mean more expensive and worse health care, more denials of home loans to working families who deserve them, and more qualified candidates getting turned away from good jobs. That’s too high a price to pay. We deserve technology that actually works. Companies can build trustworthy and better AI if they commit to a framework that truly innovates for all,” said Maya Wiley, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. 

“AI is only innovative if it can be trusted. Fairness and safety cannot be afterthoughts; they’re essential to ensuring products truly work for everyone. Private industry doesn’t have to wait on Congress or the White House to catch up; they can start  implementing this Innovation Framework immediately. When companies integrate the values and pillars, they will build better AI technologies that stand head-and-shoulders above global competitors,” said Kostubh “K.J.” Bagchi, Vice President of The Leadership Conference’s Center for Civil Rights and Technology.     

The full Innovation Framework is available here and a one-pager here. 

The Center for Civil Rights and Technology (Center) is a joint project of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund. The Center, launched in September 2023, serves as a one-of-its-kind hub for advocacy, education, and research at the intersection of civil rights and technology. 

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 240 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

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