Pittsburgh-area Congresswoman Summer Lee is leading a new effort to regulate AI discrimination.
On Tuesday, Lee, along with several Democratic colleagues in the U.S. House and Senate, announced plans to co-lead the reintroduction of the Artificial Intelligence Civil Rights Act, a law aimed at holding tech companies accountable when they use discriminatory AI tools to make decisions that change Americans’ lives.
The AI Civil Rights Act prohibits algorithmic discrimination, or when an algorithm’s decision is unfair to a particular user based on a class of protected characteristics.
“Discrimination is illegal when it’s done by humans, but it should be equally illegal when it’s done by algorithms,” Lee told Technical.ly. “These systems already shape life-altering decisions about work, housing, health care, loans, and law enforcement, and too often reproduce the race, gender, and disability-based inequalities that we have fought to eliminate for generations. We cannot allow innovation to outweigh our obligation to protect civil rights and human dignity.”
The AI Civil Rights Act would prohibit algorithmic discrimination or when an algorithm’s decisions are unfair to a particular user based on a class of protected characteristics, such as race, gender, or disability status. Algorithm developers are also required to “take reasonable measures” to prevent harm caused by their algorithms.
This means companies will need to conduct independent audits of their software. Additionally, the bill would give Americans the right to choose between an algorithm or a human being as the final decision maker.
Under the law, the Federal Trade Commission would be responsible for conducting this oversight.
While Congress remains divided, Lee said there is a growing bipartisan recognition that AI requires real guardrails. She said she intends to address constituents’ shared concerns about fairness, accountability and transparency when it comes to powerful technology, especially in Western Pennsylvania.
“If technology is shaping people’s lives, we need to reduce the harm it can cause, or in some cases is already causing,” Lee said. “We cannot allow companies to hide behind codes when their products are discriminatory. People deserve transparency, real oversight, and the benefit of civil rights laws behind life-changing decisions.”
Previous efforts to regulate civil rights in AI
A previous Artificial Intelligence Civil Rights Act was introduced by Sen. Ed Markey in 2024, but ultimately died in committee. Markey now plans to reintroduce the companion bill to the Senate.
At a recent press conference, Markey cited a 2019 report that found mortgage lenders are 80% more likely to deny Black applicants due to biased mortgage approval algorithms. Another study in 2022 found that AI models for predicting liver disease were twice as likely to miss liver disease in women than in men.
Studies have also found that AI tools discriminate against women and people of color in hiring decisions.
“Bias is bias, whether it comes from humans or machines,” Markey said. “Under this bill, algorithmic discrimination would be illegal.”
Lee’s record of fighting against technology discrimination
This is not the first time Lee has tried to regulate bias in AI.
Last year, he introduced the Eliminating Bias in Algorithmic Systems Act, which would create civil rights offices at each federal agency and monitor agency systems for bias, discrimination and other harm caused by algorithms.
“AI bias is a real and pressing issue impacting people here in Pittsburgh,” Lee told Technical.ly at the time.
She cited local police deploying facial recognition technology to monitor Black Lives Matter protesters in 2020 and using flawed algorithms to assess family welfare.
The legislation died in committee last year.
Current state of PA AI law
Currently, there are no federal laws that broadly regulate the development or use of AI, but efforts are being made in Pennsylvania to regulate the technology at a more local level.
This summer, the federal government passed a law that would make using AI for non-consensual deepfakes and voice cloning a third-degree felony, and state legislatures are now working to require mandated reporters to also report on AI-generated child sex abuse material. At a more local level, Philadelphia has also seen recent discussions about regulating AI.
But there are also federal efforts to block this type of AI regulation.
Earlier this year, a proposal to ban states from regulating AI for 10 years ultimately failed. Currently, President Donald Trump is preparing to sign an executive order that would block AI regulation at the state level. But the White House is likely to delay the order as lawmakers consider adding similar legislation to the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act.
Experts say the order would not take effect immediately, would require further action by federal agencies to enforce, and would likely spark political and legal challenges by affected states.
Updated with comments from Lee’s office at 2 p.m.
