Eliminate Bias, Not Credit Access
Last week, the White House Office of Science and Technology released A Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, which included a section on algorithmic discrimination protections. Today, AFSA sent a letter to the White House emphasizing the consumer credit industry’s decades long work to eliminate harmful bias and to ensure fair access to financial services. The algorithmic discrimination protections would not address the root of the concerns and would instead decrease credit access and raise the cost of loans for consumers, while imposing compliance burdens and stifling innovation. Even the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy Deputy Director for Science and Society Dr. Alondra Nelson, has noted the constructive role AI plays, saying, “Automated technologies are driving remarkable innovations.” and this rings true in the consumer credit industry, where AI is used to automate the underwriting process, expand fraud detection, and mitigate personal bias.
AFSA appreciates the engagement of the Office of Science and Technology to address discrimination in lending but decreasing the ability of financial institutions to use technology in their lending processes will only decrease their ability to lend.
October 12th, 2022
