Opportunities for cloud-based data governance are rapidly expanding, said Charles Schwab and Peloton executives at the virtual Informatica World event. Topics included the importance of authoritative data sources, cloud migration and Informatica's new algorithm-enhanced platform for metadata.

A proposed bill in Washington would prohibit public agencies from using artificial intelligence when making decisions unless public reports certify that the algorithms don't discriminate against marginalized groups. State American Civil Liberties Union official Jennifer Lee praised the legislation as setting a precedent for preventing bias.

Some Democratic members of Congress plan to revise the Algorithmic Accountability Act and reintroduce it this year. The bill requires companies with revenues exceeding $50 million to evaluate their algorithmic data for bias.

Police departments have been using algorithms to measure and predict criminal activity since the New York Police Department created Compstat in the early 1990s. A lack of transparency makes predictions ripe for bias, as crime statistics often come from nuisance offenses and are thus generally higher in areas with a heavy police presence.

Companies such as ZeroEyes are using artificial intelligence to spot guns, identifying threats without running into the privacy concerns facial recognition raises. The systems reportedly have problems with false positives, however, as well as some degree of racial bias.