Unions seek enforceable agreements on the use of AI

Australian Unions will seek tougher regulations to guide the future roll-out of Artificial Intelligence in workplaces.

Unions will pursue a pro-job pro-worker agenda in the adoption of AI to ensure that it is safe and deployed in a way that gives workers a stake in the gains while being transparent and fair.

Unions will go into next month’s Economic Reform Roundtable calling for a new set of mandatory enforceable agreements that would compel employers to consult with their staff before new AI technologies can be introduced into workplaces.

The measures require employers to reach AI Implementation Agreements with their workforce, including guarantees around job security, skills development and retraining, transparency over technology use, genuine privacy and data collection and use protections.

The enforceable AI Implementation Agreements would also need the backing of a new National AI Authority and a national Artificial Intelligence Act to ensure our laws keep pace with the massive technological changes workers already face in every sector and industry, with a regulator resourced to support them.

Quotes attributable to ACTU Assistant Secretary, Joseph Mitchell:

“We can realise the potential productivity benefits of AI while protecting the Australian fair go in the AI age. But we can’t wish away the major disruptions and social risks that the bad use of AI and other new tech poses, through massive job losses and the theft of creative and intellectual property by big tech companies.

“AI can bring benefits if it is brought in by workers who are well-trained and well-supported in the use of AI. This can’t happen without the knowledge, experience, creativity and skills of workers being brought into the implementation process.

“Working people will not embrace AI if their key concerns, such as job security, are left unprotected.

“Good employers understand this and are consulting properly. The new AI Implementation agreements will protect those companies by ensuring that other employers engage in the responsible uptake of AI around the country.

“Such agreements are sensible and necessary for successful introduction of AI. Workers will be all in, if they know doing so will not cost them their jobs. Research shows that productivity gains from AI are realised when workers are involved and protected.

“If an employer does not have an AI Implementation Agreement in place with their workers that company should not be eligible for government funding, such as research and development incentives or government contracts.”