Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the way we work. Important decisions about people’s working lives, such as whether they get a job and how they are managed, are increasingly made by technology rather than a human manager.
These new technologies present us all with opportunities for a better world of work, with more reward and greater productivity. But there are also risks of unfairness, discrimination, work intensification, stress and injury, with work becoming an increasingly isolating and lonely experience.
We should have compassionate innovation where technology works for humans, rather than the other way round. I am proposing that we establish the rules of engagement now by creating a new charter of digital rights, as we here at the Trades Union Congress have set out in our AI manifesto, “Dignity at Work and the AI Revolution”. These new rights are necessary because our careers are now increasingly tangled up with technology. Establishing this charter will take a cross-sector effort to agree the rules of the road ahead. Three big issues should be at its heart.
We should have compassionate innovation where technology works for humans, rather than the other way round
First, to protect human expertise and relationships, there should be a comprehensive right to human review of important decisions made by technology. This should include an express statutory right to in-person engagement—people should have a right to meet a person, in person, when significant decisions are being made about their working lives.
Second, it’s vital that technology doesn’t entrench existing inequalities. Making everyone in the AI value chain—including tech companies—liable for discriminatory algorithms will provide an important protection against this, as will mandatory equality impact assessments and making it clear in legislation that discriminatory data processing is always unlawful.
Finally, collectivism matters more than ever in the face of technological control. Collective bargaining and consultation with trade unions provide the best system of co-governance of new technologies at work. This includes workers being helped to harness their own data—collectivising this information so that it can be used to identify any unfairness at work as well as further workers’ interests.
This article first appeared in Minister for the future, a special report produced in association with Nesta.
