An AI made a decision about you. You deserve to understand it.
More and more, the choices that shape your life, whether you are hired, approved, treated, or housed, are made or shaped by AI. When that happens, you should be able to know whether the system was fair, whether it can explain itself, and whether anyone independent ever checked. This page is here to help you understand all three.
Being turned down by a system you cannot see is unsettling.
A loan declined. An application that never gets a callback. A claim denied. When the decision comes from software, it can feel like there is no one to ask and no reason given. That feeling is fair. A decision that affects your life should come with a reason you can understand.
You applied for credit and a model said no.
Your resume was scored and you never heard back.
A screening tool flagged you and the lease fell through.
AI shaped whether your care was approved.
An automated system decided your benefits.
Why these decisions feel impossible to question
Many AI systems reach decisions in ways that are hard to explain, even for the people who built them. Information goes in, a decision comes out, and the reasoning in between stays hidden. People call this the black box. The trouble is not that the answer is unknowable. The trouble is that almost no one looks inside.
That is what AVAAS does. We look inside, from the outside, as an independent organization. And there are three plain questions we can make a black box answer about the decision it reached about you.
Three questions a black box can be made to answer
Can it explain itself?
A fair decision comes with a real reason. We check whether the system can give a specific, accurate reason for what it decided, not a vague excuse after the fact.
Does it treat people fairly?
We check whether the system reaches different outcomes for people because of who they are, like their race, gender, or age, when it should not.
Is it the real system?
A system can pass a test and then quietly change. We confirm that the system deciding today is the same one that was checked.
We answer these without ever seeing your personal data, and without the company grading its own AI.
What it means when a company is AVAAS certified
When a company holds an AVAAS certification, it means an independent organization tested the AI behind its decisions at the point those decisions reach people, and documented that the system can explain itself, treats people fairly, and is the one actually in use.
AVAAS does not grade itself, and a company cannot grade its own AI. The standard is held by a separate body from the one that runs the assessments. That separation is the whole point. A grade means something because the people giving it have nothing to gain from the answer.
An AVAAS certification is documented, third-party evidence. It is not a legal ruling, and it does not replace the rights you already have. Systems that do not meet the standard are simply not listed.
Look up the companies deciding about you
We are building a free public registry where anyone can check whether a company holds an AVAAS certification. No login, no cost. When it launches, you will be able to look up the company behind a decision the same way you might check a restaurant health grade, and so can journalists, advocates, and anyone choosing who to trust.
What you can ask for right now
You do not have to wait for any of this to use the rights you already have. A few practical steps.
Ask for the reasons. If you were denied credit, you are entitled to the main reasons why. In the United States this is called an adverse action notice, and you can request it.
Get the report and fix errors. If a background or screening report was used, you can usually request a copy and dispute anything in it that is wrong.
Ask about the machine. You can ask whether an automated system was involved in the decision, and whether a person is able to review it.
Keep a record. Dates, names, and what you were told all help if you decide to follow up or escalate.
This is general information to help you understand your situation. It is not legal advice, and AVAAS cannot step into an individual decision on your behalf. For advice about your specific case, speak with a qualified advisor or a legal aid organization.
You should not have to ask nicely for a fair decision.
Independent certification of the AI that decides about people should be the norm, not a favor. Add your voice. We are measuring the demand state by state and country by country, then putting it in front of the people who set the rules.
The live tally launches with the AVAAS public registry. Until then this is a preview of how public demand will be shown, by state and by country.