Can I use AI for hiring in Illinois?
Answer
Yes, but three Illinois regimes apply at once. HB-3773 (effective January 1, 2026) bans discriminatory AI and zip-code proxies and requires employee notice. The AI Video Interview Act adds consent, explanation, video-sharing limits, 30-day deletion, and DCEO demographic reporting when AI analyzes video interviews. If tools capture facial geometry or voiceprints, BIPA adds separate written-consent and statutory-damages exposure. Map your hiring stack against all three.
Yes, but two distinct Illinois laws apply. HB-3773 (effective January 1, 2026) amended the Illinois Human Rights Act to prohibit employers from using AI that discriminates against protected classes or uses zip codes as a proxy, and it requires notice to employees that AI is being used in employment decisions (recruitment, hiring, promotion, discipline, tenure, or terms and conditions). Separately, the Illinois Artificial Intelligence Video Interview Act (PA 101-0260, 820 ILCS 42), in effect since 2020, applies specifically when AI analyzes applicant video interviews: employers must notify the applicant, explain how the AI works, obtain written consent, limit video sharing to necessary evaluators, delete videos within 30 days of an applicant's request, and — per the 2022 amendment (PA 102-47) — report applicant racial/ethnicity data annually to DCEO. If AI hiring tools also capture biometric identifiers (e.g., facial geometry from video), the separate Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) creates additional consent and liability obligations. Illinois employers using AI for any form of employment decision should map their process against all three regimes.
Sources checked
Scope
Synthesizes all three Illinois hiring-AI regimes — HB-3773 (IHRA amendment), the AI Video Interview Act, and BIPA — at the decision-making level. For provision-level detail see the dedicated Video Interview Act, HB-3773 reporting, and penalties answers. It does not cover Colorado or Texas law except by contrast.
Operational implication
Three statutes converge on one recruiting workflow. Employers must inventory which AI tools touch which decisions (to name the tool in HB-3773 notice), audit inputs for zip-code proxies, capture consent and run deletion for video tools, and obtain BIPA consent before any biometric capture. The compliance substance is workflow design, not the notice text.
Applicable Regulations
Illinois Human Rights Act AI Amendment (Public Act 103-0804)
Amends the Illinois Human Rights Act (775 ILCS 5/) to prohibit employers from using artificial intelligence that subjects employees or applicants to discrimination based on protected classes, and from using zip codes as a proxy for protected classes. Requires employers to notify employees when AI is used in recruitment, hiring, promotion, discharge, discipline, or other terms and conditions of employment. Defines "artificial intelligence" and "generative artificial intelligence" for purposes of the Act.
Key Requirements
Illinois Artificial Intelligence Video Interview Act (820 ILCS 42)
Enacted 2019 (PA 101-260), effective 2020-01-01. Amended by PA 102-47 (effective 2022-01-01) to add DCEO demographic reporting. Regulates Illinois employers who use AI to analyze applicant video interviews. Requires notice, explanation of AI, and written consent before analysis; limits video sharing; mandates 30-day deletion on applicant request; requires annual demographic reporting to DCEO.
Key Requirements
Industry Context
HR & Recruiting Firms
Staffing agencies, recruiting firms, and HR technology providers that use AI for candidate sourcing, resume screening, interview analysis, and employment decision support. These firms face heightened regulatory scrutiny because AI in hiring directly affects individuals' economic opportunities.
Typical Compliance Gaps
Full State Analysis
Where this lands operationally
Gridex turns the compliance or coverage question into operated workflow controls: intake, review points, audit trails, and the places a person stays in the decision.
Discuss a Governed Hiring Workflow
Run a Gridex AI hiring compliance review (/services/ai-hiring-compliance-review/) to map your stack against all three Illinois regimes, then build the controls in /services/governed-ai-deployment/.
Discuss a Governed Hiring Workflow →Related Questions
- What are the AI video interview consent requirements in Illinois? Illinois' AI video interview consent requirements come from the Illinois Artificial Intelligence Video Interview Act (PA 101-0260, codified at 820 ILCS 42), not HB-3773. Under Section 5 of the Act, before using AI to analyze an applicant's video interview, the employer must: (1) notify the applicant in advance that AI may be used to analyze the video interview and consider the applicant's fitness for the position; (2) explain how the AI works and what general types of characteristics it uses to evaluate applicants; and (3) obtain written consent from the applicant. Under Section 10, employers may share applicant videos only with individuals whose expertise or technology is necessary to evaluate the applicant's fitness — not with third parties generally. Under Section 15, if the applicant requests deletion, the employer must delete all copies within 30 days and instruct any other recipients (with copies or backups) to delete theirs as well. The Act has been in effect since January 1, 2020, with demographic reporting added by a 2022 amendment (PA 102-47). Note: broader employment-AI discrimination rules — including a separate employee-notice requirement and a ban on zip-code proxies — are addressed in HB-3773 (IHRA amendment, effective January 1, 2026), which is distinct from this Video Interview Act.
- What AI rules apply to hiring in Texas? Texas does not currently have a private-sector AI hiring disclosure or candidate opt-out law comparable to Illinois, Colorado, or NYC Local Law 144. Texas HB-2060 was a state-agency AI advisory and inventory law, not an employer hiring rule. The main Texas AI law for private employers is HB-149 (TRAIGA), effective January 1, 2026: for hiring AI it matters mainly if the system is intentionally deployed to discriminate against protected classes or otherwise falls into TRAIGA's prohibited-practice categories. TRAIGA's biometric-identification and social-scoring prohibitions apply to government entities only — biometric consent for private-sector AI tools, such as video-interview face or voice capture, is governed by Texas's CUBI statute (Tex. Bus. & Com. Code §503.001), not TRAIGA. Employers using AI in Texas should still document the tool, human review points, bias controls, and any biometric consent process.
- Does Colorado require AI impact assessments? No longer. SB 26-189 (signed 2026-05-14) repealed and reenacted Colorado's AI Act, eliminating the impact-assessment requirement entirely. Colorado now instead requires deployers of automated decision-making technology (ADMT) to: give consumers clear interaction notice, disclose adverse consequential decisions within 30 days, allow correction of incorrect personal data, and provide meaningful human review and reconsideration. The statute formally takes effect 2026-08-12, but all compliance obligations — for deployers and developers alike — begin 2027-01-01.
- How do Illinois and Colorado AI hiring laws compare? Illinois regulates AI hiring through two laws: the Artificial Intelligence Video Interview Act (820 ILCS 42), which requires notice, explanation, and written consent for AI-analyzed video interviews, and HB-3773, which adds employee/applicant notice and an anti-discrimination duty for AI used in employment decisions (effective January 1, 2026). Colorado's AI Act (SB 26-189, which repealed and reenacted SB 24-205) takes a disclosure-and-notice approach: employers using automated decision-making technology (ADMT) to make or substantially influence consequential employment decisions must give interaction notice, provide a plain-language adverse-outcome explanation within 30 days, allow data correction, and ensure meaningful human review. Colorado no longer requires algorithmic impact assessments or high-risk AI system classification — that model was repealed when SB 26-189 was signed on May 14, 2026; its disclosure-and-notice obligations begin January 1, 2027.
- How should multistate employers comply with AI hiring laws? Multistate employers should baseline AI hiring workflows against the strictest active regimes, then layer state-specific rules. In practice, that means Illinois notice, consent, non-discrimination, and reporting obligations; Colorado ADMT interaction notice, adverse-outcome disclosure, data correction, and meaningful human review for consequential employment decisions beginning January 1, 2027; Minnesota profiling and data-protection-assessment obligations where covered; and Texas TRAIGA controls for prohibited discriminatory or biometric AI uses. Texas HB-2060 should not be treated as a private-employer hiring disclosure or opt-out law; it was a state-agency AI advisory and inventory statute.