Labor must resist AI deregulation and come up with a different vision – LaborList

I feel stuck in the headlines and hype about the current artificial intelligence revolution. It doesn’t have as much airtime as ChatGPT, but new legislation to be debated in parliament on April 17th is the future of data and AI in the UK. very important for It is also an opportunity for Labor to articulate a compelling alternative vision.

On March 8, Michelle Donnellan, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, said: conservative home “Finally, as an independent nation again, we have the power to eliminate this monolithic giant,” the website said. [GDPR] Replace it with agile, British, bespoke, common sense alternatives. ”

Desperate to show the Brexit dividend, the occasion was the reissue of the previously withdrawn Data Protection and Digital Information Bill. The bill has caught fire under the EU’s GDPR and is framed by Donelan as saving ordinary citizens from his pesky cookie popups on websites and saving businesses from bureaucracy.

These much-appreciated savings are just £82 per company per year, according to the government’s own estimates, in exchange for an all-new and confusing set of rules. But the bill does more than that. As data and AI become embedded in all areas of our “dataified” lives, this bill will further weaken the power people have to exercise their data rights, individually and collectively. A much-needed force to make sure data works for all of us, not just government through giant technologies and algorithms. ability to achieve industrial strategic goals.

The arguments against this bill are not about anti-innovation or technophobia. Rather, as Harold Wilson put it in his 1963 conference speech, it avoids the “blind imposition of technological progress” and instead seeks “the conscious, deliberate and purposeful application of scientific progress.” to indicate the correct use.

Think about how you use data at work. The bill would reduce the need for human review of automated decision-making, allow people to see the data held about them, and reduce the chances of raising concerns before deployment. For millions of workers, this means that they are increasingly exposed to algorithmic performance management and “robo-firing” without understanding the goals they are expected to achieve. Disguised as “promoting innovation,” the bill is part of a deregulatory race to the bottom, fostering technological instability and public mistrust, undermining the responsible innovation it is supposed to unleash.

For these and many other reasons, Labor must resist the worst of this bill. But it must also be seen in the big picture of technological transformation underpinned by data and AI.

The Tories set out a vision. Let the AI ​​rip it and tell the public that you like it better. The government’s AI white paper, released last month, shows a weak approach to regulation, as the bill bares the fangs of the Information Commissioner’s Office. This is out of step with both the industry and the public. Just a few days ago, a prominent global voice on AI called for a moratorium on tools like ChatGPT as society catches up. And shockingly, according to the government’s own poll, only 27% believe tech companies are sufficiently regulated to protect the public interest.

Workers should explain their alternatives. At its core, there must be a realization that while data-driven technology can drive progress and productivity, it can also exacerbate inequality and social disruption. It affects us all as workers, in schools, as patients, at home, in every aspect of our lives. Therefore, we need the voice of ordinary citizens, empowered on a par with industry and government. In practice, individual and collective rights, empowered independent regulators, and legally enforceable support for the development of socially useful tools, not just those hyped by AI companies, must give.

It all started with the Labor Party’s Industrial Strategy. Connected by Data works with workers and leading data and AI thinkers to further develop the principles underlying progressive approaches to technology and strengthen them into meaningful and compelling policy positions. I’ve been

Immediately, this begins with resisting the way data protection and digital information bills hold us back. It is also an opportunity to face change. Labor must give people hope that data and AI can be used to build a just society. A rapid shift to AI that only serves the interests of a few powerful players is a political choice, not an inevitable one.