SEN. CABRERA CITES ALGORITHMIC DISCRIMINATION CONCERNS AS PART OF BLACK & PUERTO RICAN CAUCUS’S

EIGHT LEGISLATIVE PILLARS FOR 2025

HARTFORD – State Senator Jorge Cabrera (D-Hamden) announced today that the artificial intelligence algorithmic discrimination concerns as outlined in Senate Bill 2 is one of the Top 8 public policy pillars that the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus will seek to pass into law this session.

“The federal government under Donald Trump will do nothing with Elon Musk and David Sacks — a tech venture capitalist — being in charge of federal artificial intelligence policy. They’re more concerned with the investment portfolios of the tech millionaires and billionaires than the lives and the opportunities of the people of Connecticut,” Sen. Cabrera said. “We need the AI protections that Senate Bill 2 will enshrine. Among other things, we need to require companies to test certain algorithms to ensure they’re fair and accurate.”

Sen. Cabrera spoke at the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus’s press conference on its 2025 legislative priorities. The Caucus, formed in 1976, consists of about three dozen House and Senate members with the goal of promoting and assisting minorities in becoming more actively involved in the political process, in attaining political office, and in raising the economic potential for minorities in Connecticut.

Sen. Cabrera spoke specifically about the problem of discriminatory algorithms used by artificial intelligence that can prevent minority citizens from getting jobs, mortgages, paying too much for college, and other issues. Senate Bill 2 – one of the Senate Democrats’ Top 12 priorities in 2025 – seeks to protect all Connecticut consumers from the risks of algorithmic discrimination and the unfair treatment posed by artificial intelligence.

AI logarithmic discrimination could increase the racial wealth gap in America by $43 billion every year, according to a 2023 McKinsey Report. As examples of AI algorithm discrimination, Sen. Cabrera noted:

-A 2014 Amazon hiring algorithm for technology job openings weeded out women by checking resumes to see if they had played on a women’s sports team in college.

-iTutor was sued after its algorithm rejected job applicants that were over age 55 for women and 60 for men.

-Another hiring algorithm determined that parents made worse employees because they tend to take more time off to care for children.

-A student loan algorithm charged higher interest rates if you graduated from a historically Black university.