Keith Sonderling has long argued that humans -- not algorithms -- are the biggest source of hiring bias. Now, the former commissioner for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will take on a new challenge as the deputy secretary of labor under President-elect Donald Trump.
If the Senate confirms him, Sonderling will become the second-highest-ranking official in the U.S. Department of Labor, its de facto chief operating officer, responsible for day-to-day management, strategic planning and development initiatives. The department oversees wage and hour standards, workplace safety, and other related issues.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has warned HR leaders to exercise caution when deploying AI in HR, particularly in hiring. The main task of the EEOC is to enforce anti-discrimination laws, which might make the agency more of a cautionary voice in deployments of AI in HR. It has worked jointly with the Department of Justice to publish guidance on "how algorithms and artificial intelligence can lead to disability discrimination in hiring," which was a clear warning to employers.
A middle ground approach
The EEOC is an independent agency that enforces anti-discrimination laws. Before being appointed by Trump in 2020 to a four-year term on the EEOC, Sonderling served as acting administrator of the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division.
It is equally important to highlight that AI can mitigate the risk of unlawful discrimination and create accessible workplaces that were previously unimaginable.
Keith SonderlingNominee for deputy secretary, Department of Labor
Sonderling has taken a more nuanced and middle ground approach to AI in HR and believes it can reduce hiring bias. He has been critical of the EEOC's approach, which he said overemphasizes AI's perils while downplaying its promise.
For instance, at an EEOC forum on AI, Sonderling criticized the agency for not including AI designers and vendors in the discussion. "It is equally important to highlight that AI can mitigate the risk of unlawful discrimination and create accessible workplaces that were previously unimaginable," he told the commission.
Sonderling also attended the HR Technology Conference in September. In an interview with Informa TechTarget and during a conference presentation, he stated that well-designed AI can "absolutely remove bias." Still, he was mindful of AI's risks and warned that "it can scale discrimination to the likes that we have never seen before."
Patrick Thibodeau is an editor at large for Informa TechTarget who covers HCM and ERP technologies. He's worked for more than two decades as an enterprise IT reporter.
