The state of New York has enacted laws and/or issued guidance on Artificial Intelligence (AI). Companies subject to New York law should be familiar with all relevant AI-related laws, regulations, and guidance, including those listed below.
Laws and Regulations
General
The Law provides that a person, firm or corporation that uses for advertising purposes, or for the purposes of trade, the name, portrait, picture, likeness, or voice of any living person without having first obtained the written consent of such person, or if a minor of such minor’s parent or guardian, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
Employment
The Law prohibits employers and employment agencies from using an automated employment decision tool (AEDT) unless the tool has been subject to a bias audit within one year of the use of the tool and imposes notice and reporting obligations. The Final Rule specifies:
- how bias audits can comply with the AEDT Law;
- the requirements for the published results of the required bias audit;
- the requirements for notices that employers and employment agencies must provide to employees and job candidates and other compliance obligations on employer or employment agencies.
Insurance
The Circular Letter identifies the Department of Financial Services’ expectations that all insurers authorized to write insurance in New York State, Article 43 corporations, health maintenance organizations, licensed fraternal benefit societies, and the New York State Insurance Fund develop and manage their use of external consumer data and information sources (“ECDIS”), AI Systems, and other predictive models in underwriting and pricing insurance policies and annuity contracts.
Elections
The following law applies in the context of elections in New York.
The Law requires that an entity that distributes or publishes any political communication that was produced by or includes “materially deceptive media” and has knowledge that it is materially deceptive must disclose this use as specified under the Law.
Intellectual Property
The Law is intended to protect performers and other individuals from wrongful use of AI voice or melody replicas. It provides that a provision in an agreement between an individual and any other person for the performance of personal or professional services is contrary to public policy and is deemed unenforceable if the provision meets all of the following conditions:
- the provision allows for the creation and use of a digital replica of the individual's voice or likeness in place of work the individual would otherwise have performed in person;
- the provision does not include a reasonably specific description of the intended uses of the digital replica; and
- the individual was not either:
- represented by legal counsel who negotiated on behalf of the individual licensing the individual's digital replica rights and the licensing terms are not stated clearly and conspicuously in an employment contract that is separately signed or initialed by the individual or in a separate writing that is signed by the individual; or
- represented by a labor organization representing workers who do the proposed work and the terms of their collective bargaining agreement expressly address uses of digital replicas.