First, let’s examine how massive unemployment is leading to more competition for every job opening. The surge in applicants, combined with stay-at-home orders, likely will result in employers relying on digital tools to evaluate and hire candidates. Many of them are turning to the artificial intelligence and algorithm-based hiring innovations that have cropped up in recent years. As someone who knows how to look under the hood and understand what’s been built ethically and what hasn’t, I can tell you many of these tools haven’t. Just take the notorious Amazon AI recruiting tool that rejected women’s resumes for engineering roles. I also have serious questions about technologies that rely on facial recognition, which have a history of bias against women and people of color.

Sacramento, Calif.- Today, Senator Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach) issued the following statement regarding her legislation, SB 1130, which passed the Senate Energy, Utilities, and Communications Committee with bi-partisan support by a vote of 11-2. SB 1130 aims to close the digital divide for Californians in poor urban and rural areas by updating the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) to encourage deployment of 21st century-ready high-speed broadband internet in unserved areas.