The AFL-CIO, which represents 63 unions and nearly 15 million workers, including the United Auto Workers (UAW), is advocating for strengthened collective bargaining in the workplace and regulations to limit the negative effects of AI on workers (AFL-CIO, n. d.). According to AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler, “We reject the false choice between American competitiveness on the world stage and respecting workers’ rights and dignity” (The Verge, 2023). The AFL-CIO’s initiative aims to address the potential consequences of AI on workers, including job displacement and increased surveillance.
Ed Wytkind, interim director of the AFL-CIO’s Technology Institute, notes that collective bargaining is “one of the best tools available to manage this transition” to a future with AI (The Verge, 2023). The UAW’s experience working with carmakers to automate the auto sector in the 1950s is cited as an example of successful collaboration (Wytkind, 2023).
What happens when the rhythms of work and the pulse of technology converge? The intersection of labor and artificial intelligence is a terrain where the certainties of the past are being rewritten. As machines and algorithms assume tasks once performed by humans, the notion of work itself is undergoing a profound transformation.
The contours of this new landscape are still taking shape, but one thing is clear: the future of labor will be inextricably linked with the development and deployment of artificial intelligence.
In this unfolding narrative, the voices of workers, policymakers, and technologists are beginning to be heard. Some argue that AI will bring about unprecedented productivity gains, freeing humans from mundane tasks and enabling them to focus on more creative and high-value work. Others, however, sound a more cautionary note, warning that the automation of jobs could lead to widespread displacement and exacerbate existing inequalities.
As the debate rages on, one thing is certain: the relationship between labor and AI will be a defining feature of the 21st century.
The implications of this relationship are far-reaching, touching on fundamental questions about the nature of work, the role of technology, and the distribution of power and wealth.
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The AFL-CIO represents the UAW and dozens of other unions and wants more collective bargaining and state bills regulating AI.
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