Get the lowdown on how AI and proxy data impact your organisation with insights straight from the EHRC.
Have you ever wondered why the job adverts you see on social media don’t match what your friends (with similar CVs) are being shown? You might be experiencing discrimination – only it’s happening quietly, behind the scenes.
Ever noticed your social media job recommendations look completely different from a colleague's with the exact same CV? You are not alone.
While attributes like "current employer," "education," or "group membership" seem neutral on the surface, they can act as hidden proxies for protected characteristics. Without any intention to discriminate, these algorithms can quietly steer women toward care or administrative roles and men toward higher-paid technical positions. How does this happen—and what are regulators doing to stop it?
Join Claire Lesko, AI Compliance Lead at the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), for an evidence-based look at how "neutral" technology can produce unequal outcomes, and how public and private bodies can take action.
Drawing on her recent work on the EHRC’s engagement with LinkedIn’s job-ad targeting tools, Claire will explain how digital advertising systems can contribute to unequal outcomes and outline some of the regulatory issues this raises.
What You Will Learn:
- The equality risks in targeted job advertising: Understand how audience customisation tools can use apparently neutral attributes in ways that may create risks of indirect discrimination and reinforce occupational segregation.
- The LinkedIn case study: Consider what the EHRC’s engagement with LinkedIn shows about transparency, reporting routes and fairness testing in targeted job advertising.
- Recommendations for targeted advertising platforms: Reflect on the EHRC’s recommendations for platforms using targeted job-ad tools and what these suggest about reducing equality risks in digital recruitment advertising.
- The Future of Government AI: Get an exclusive preview of Claire’s latest project looking at how government departments must weigh equality considerations when developing, procuring, or mandating AI and digital technologies.
Who Should Attend? This session will be of interest to anyone wanting to explore how audience customisation tools used by employers on social media platforms can lead to unintended consequences, including risks of indirect discrimination and the reinforcement of occupational segregation.
Speakers
Claire Lesko, AI Compliance Lead at the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)
Claire specialises in AI & Digital fairness, equality, ethics and responsible innovation.
Over the last several years, she has led work on responsible AI, AI procurement, Equality Impact Assessments, Public Sector Equality Duty compliance, data and AI ethics, and practical guidance for public bodies. She has worked with regulators, government departments, local government and specialist AI stakeholders to build evidence, develop guidance and support better decision-making.
Chair: Dr Kay Achenbach, Head of Data Ethics the ODI
As Senior Learning Specialist and Head of Data Ethics at the Open Data Institute, Kay delivers data literacy training to hundreds of learners each year across the public and private sector, including the UK Civil Service. She leads the delivery of Data Ethics Professionals and works directly with organisations to embed data ethics into workflows and projects. Kay has a background in geophysical research and worked for over a decade in secondary schools prior to joining the ODI.