The use of artificial intelligence to determine workers’ wages via algorithms is drawing increased attention from policymakers and advocates pushing for regulation aimed at preventing discrimination and pay irregularities before businesses begin widespread use of the technology.
So far, California, Colorado, Georgia, and Illinois have proposed parameters around use of the technology that aim to bar use of personal data that’s unrelated to work. As the technology spreads, an increase in antitrust claims could be expected, especially if an industry’s major competitors all use the same AI tool and arrive at similar wage rates. McCarter partner and former DOJ antitrust attorney Robin Crauthers spoke with Bloomberg Law about the antitrust risks for businesses automating pay decisions for employees and how recent price-fixing claims could be an indicator of what’s to come in labor markets. “The use of AI to set employees’ wages would not give a company a free pass,” Crauthers said. “The core question is: did the competing buyers of the labor stop making independent pay decisions?”