TUC: Government Fails to Protect Workers from AI

The TUC wants stronger rules to protect workers from decisions made by artificial intelligence systems.

A group representing trade unions said AI-powered technology is now making “risky and life-changing” decisions about workers’ lives, including line management, hiring and firing staff. rice field.

But the new law would “weaken” existing protections, it said.

The government said the TUC’s assessment was “wrong” and said it would continue to implement security measures.

A spokesperson said the company is committed to improving and defending workers’ rights, saying: “AI is driving growth and creating new, well-paying jobs across the UK, while making existing jobs more efficient and safer. enable it to be carried out.

“That is why we are working with companies and regulators to ensure that AI is used safely and accountably in the business environment.”

Artificial intelligence is the branch of computer science that develops machines and software that can perform tasks that normally have to be done by humans, such as decision making and speech recognition.

Many researchers have expressed concerns about the use of AI in the workplace, particularly recruitment tools that use voice and video to determine a candidate’s suitability for a job. They claim the system is unscientific and contains biases.

The TUC says it uses AI to analyze facial expressions, tone of voice, and accent to assess whether a candidate is right for the role.

Left unchecked, they argue, AI could lead to greater discrimination in the workplace. For example, tools that analyze facial expressions can disadvantage candidates and employees with certain disabilities.

However, some companies promoting AI tools conversely claim that computer systems make fairer decisions than humans alone.

The TUC employment rights policy officer, Mary Towers, told the BBC that her research had found AI tools being used across a range of industries. Disciplinary action up to dismissal.”

“We found evidence that AI-powered tools are being used in a variety of ways that human managers would expect to perform their functions in the workplace,” she said.

AI tools can also be used to track employee performance and even make automated decisions to effectively fire an employee.

The TUC has warned that AI “may set unrealistic goals and, as a result, put workers in dangerous situations that adversely affect both their physical and mental health.” .

Some employers require employees to carry devices that record data about their activities that can be analyzed. One warehouse worker told her Connected by Data, an AI policy campaigner, that taking too many bathroom breaks meant being flagged and having to explain why she wasn’t working.

Last month, the government released a white paper on AI, proposing to spread regulation of the technology across various existing agencies rather than creating a single new oversight agency.

According to the TUC, the document only provides “vague” and “flimsy” guidance to regulators on how to ensure that AI is used ethically in the workplace, and that “the It has no additional abilities or resources.”

And the data protection and digital information bill, which was held for the second time on Monday, suggests watering down many of the protections in current data protection law.

The TUC wants companies to open up about how AI is being used to make decisions about their employees. All decisions should be subject to human review so workers can appeal, the company said.

The government believes the reform will not change workers’ right to seek human review of important automated decisions.

The bill says it will give organizations greater flexibility while retaining the protections British workers currently have.

However, other organizations have made similar criticisms of the bill. Connected by Data told the BBC: “This bill would reduce the ability of workers to access the data held by them or to contest how it is used. It means that there is a possibility that we cannot know.”

To illustrate why such a rule is important, it cites recent court decisions ordering two ride-hailing companies to hand over information relevant to automated decisions to fire workers in the UK and Portugal.

Angela Rayner, Labor’s deputy leader and shadow secretary of state for the future of work, also supported the TUC’s call, telling the BBC that AI is “already transforming the economy”.

Employees “must have a proper say in how technology is implemented,” she said.

“Workers update their employment rights and protections to fit into the modern economy.”