Episode

Null Compliance is Not Non-Compliance in NYC's Algorithm Audits

Podcast
Chris's AI Deep Dive
Published
Oct 24, 2025
Duration seconds
870
Processing state
not_requested
Canonical source
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/chrislguo/episodes/Null-Compliance-is-Not-Non-Compliance-in-NYCs-Algorithm-Audits-e3a0c2g
Audio
https://anchor.fm/s/fb2a44a4/podcast/play/110161424/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2025-9-24%2F38428244-c9b3-bd97-303b-b5e573ce8f65.m4a
JSON
/v1/public/podcasts/chris-s-ai-deep-dive-7034494/episodes/null-compliance-is-not-non-compliance-in-nyc-s-algorithm-audits
Markdown
/podcast/chris-s-ai-deep-dive-7034494/null-compliance-is-not-non-compliance-in-nyc-s-algorithm-audits.md

Actions

  • POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/chris-s-ai-deep-dive-7034494/episodes/null-compliance-is-not-non-compliance-in-nyc-s-algorithm-audits/transcription-requests
    Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
  • GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/chris-s-ai-deep-dive-7034494/null-compliance-is-not-non-compliance-in-nyc-s-algorithm-audits.md
    Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

Summary

This examines the initial implementation and effectiveness of New York City's Local Law 144 (LL 144) , a landmark regulation mandating bias audits for Automated Employment Decision Tools (AEDTs) used in hiring and promotion. The authors, a group of university researchers and student investigators, report remarkably low rates of compliance with the law's requirements for posting public audit reports and transparency notices. A central finding is the concept of "null compliance," which describes the inability to determine non-compliance due to the significant discretion granted to employers over whether their systems fall within the law's scope. Furthermore, the study critiques the law for creating a confusing user experience for job seekers and for failing to establish a clear floor for acceptable discrimination rates , potentially encouraging employers to withhold unfavorable audit results to avoid litigation risk. Ultimately, the paper concludes that the law's design hinders transparency, making it impossible to assess whether LL 144 is achieving its goal of reducing employment discrimination.