In an effort to foster an open dialogue about the future of artificial intelligence and allay concerns that it could replace jobs, Microsoft on Monday launched a cooperation with a significant labour organisation that represents 12.5 million workers and 60 unions.
The alliance between the Congress of Industrial Organisations and the American Federation of Labour and Microsoft comes as labour organisations and government agencies are becoming more concerned about how AI will replace workers.
In order to include input from labour leaders and workers, the alliance will organise labour summits sponsored by Microsoft between 2024 and 2026, as well as AI learning sessions for workers and “experiential workshops” centred on specialised AI career options.
There are three objectives:
“Exchanging detailed knowledge about AI technology trends with labour leaders and workers.”
“Building public policy that supports frontline workers’ technological skills and demands by incorporating worker perspectives and experience into AI technology development.”
Answering questions about the potential impact of their technology on labour and public pressure, AI firms have been more responsive. Part of the reason for that might be growing concerns that employment currently done by people could be replaced by new technology. Seven percentage points more than in 2021, a September Gallup poll revealed that one in five college graduates fear technology would render their employment obsolete.
When workers at Amazon began to voice concerns in October about feeling under pressure to perform and hit quotas, the company announced that it will collaborate with MIT “to better understand how employees and organisations are affected” by AI and robotics.
IBM said in May that it would use AI to replace approximately 8,000 positions. However, CEO Arvind Krishna told CNBC that the business is focusing on “massively upskilling all of our workers on AI,” and he believes that back-office operations will be primarily replaced by the technology.
Source (CNBC)
