FP’s Top 2025 Predictions for Artificial Intelligence

Our AI, Data, and Analytics Team thought leaders have pulled together their top predictions for the new year so that employers can get a running start to 2025. If you want more, register for our FP Workplace Law Forecast Webinar here.

Federal Government Will Be Hands-Off on AI – But the States Will Fill the Gap

• Trump will revoke Biden’s AI Executive Order by February, and his agency heads will follow suit to rescind current guidance. AI Czar David Sacks will emphasize innovation and industry collaboration, so we’ll see D.C. take a light touch when it comes to AI regulation. Some existing guidance will be replaced with broad, industry-friendly guidelines, others will simply be deleted. And we won’t see any big AI legislation from Congress.
• California or New York is going to pass something big. Expect disclosure and opt-out requirements for workers and applicants. We’ll soon see a patchwork of state laws with different approaches for addressing AI bias and other AI legal issues, as over 30 states have already convened AI committees and taskforces that will cook up proposed legislation that will start to get passed from coast to coast.
• Someone new to D.C. is going to get wrapped up in an AI-related scandal. Get your bingo boards ready!

Speaking of Washington, D.C. – make sure to save the date for AI ADVANTAGE: An FP Conference for Business Leaders, taking place July 23-25 in D.C. once again. Our firm’s third annual conference promises to be our best yet, blending practical guidance with cutting-edge lessons about how to gain a competitive advantage through AI.

The Wave of Workplace AI Litigation Will Truly Begin

• Sure, we saw an AI-related settlement from the EEOC way back in 2023 – but that was child’s play compared to what we expect in 2025. The cracks in the dam will begin to rupture when it comes to claims involving the use of workplace AI in the new year.
• The ACLU has pending claims with the EEOC and the FTC over AI-fueled personality assessment tests, video interview tools, and cognitive ability assessment screening devices.
• And a California federal court could soon hear a discrimination lawsuit against an AI-based vendor after more than 100 employers that use the vendor’s screening tools rejected an older disabled Black applicant.

Your Workplace Transformation Will Continue at a Breakneck Pace

• AI Governance will become all-but-mandatory. It will allow companies to adopt AI with guardrails to help mitigate liability and risk issues.
• AI will become an integral part of managing safety in industrial workplaces. It will be used more frequently to predict and intervene to prevent workplace injuries.
• Schrödinger’s AI will have job seekers favoring pro-AI employers that show off their productivity suite in job postings, while objecting to any AI being used to grade their applications.

Your Own Business Habits Will Forever Be Changed

• You’re going to open Microsoft Word one day in 2025 and be greeted by your new in-document AI Drafting Assistant. Will it be Clippy 2.0? Or something more useful?
• Autonomous AI Agents will take things to the next level. Going on a trip? AI will not only create a perfect itinerary but make the reservations for you. It will also help employers automate administrative work so employees can focus more on higher skills tasks.
• Will AI become your new best friend?  In 2025, we will see AI being marketed as not only a business tool but a personal friend. Open AI has already warned that users may become emotionally connected to its advanced voice mode. Other LLMs will follow that lead. Will AI also become your life coach and therapist?

Want More?

• You can read our entire FP Workplace Law 2025 Forecast here, full of predictions spanning many practice areas and industries.
• You can register for our FP Workplace Law Forecast 2025 Webinar here.

Conclusion

We will continue to monitor developments related to all aspects of workplace safety law. Make sure you are subscribed to Fisher Phillips’ Insight System to get the most up-to-date information. If you have questions, contact your Fisher Phillips attorney, the authors of this Insight, or any member of our AI Team.