Microsoft and the nation’s largest federation of labor unions launched a partnership Monday to train workers and leaders on how artificial intelligence is used in the workplace—amid rising concerns from workers and labor unions that AI could lead to job losses.
The partnership comes amid an increase in labor unions across industries seeking protection from the … [+]
Microsoft’s partnership with the AFL-CIO, which is made up of 60 national and international labor unions representing 12.5 million people, “is the first of its kind between a labor organization and a technology company” focused on AI, according to a Microsoft press release.
Through the partnership, union workers and leaders will receive training starting next winter from experts at Microsoft on AI trends, how the technology works and is developed and what its challenges are.
Workers and union leaders will also give feedback on their experience working with AI and their concerns about the technology to Microsoft’s AI developers and researchers, hosting “labor summits” between the union and Microsoft.
The AFL-CIO and Microsoft say they will also “propose and support policies” to train workers on artificial intelligence, including tech apprenticeships—though Microsoft did not offer further details on those plans in its press release.
The AFL-CIO has raised worries about AI in the past: The group commissioned a survey in August that found 70% of people are concerned about AI displacing workers, with women being more concerned about “AI’s potential to exacerbate inequity on the job.”
Likewise, Microsoft President Brad Smith reportedly said at an event announcing the partnership he “can’t sit here and say that AI will never displace a job,” but that the partnership with labor unions “can help ensure that AI serves the country’s workers.”
However, tech workers are less concerned about the emerging technology even though they’re more exposed to it: A Pew Research Center survey in July found 32% of U.S. workers in information and technology jobs said the technology would help more than hurt them, compared to 11% who responded that it would hurt more than help.
The AFL-CIO’s partnership with Microsoft follows a summer of union actions related to the use of AI in the workplace. Hollywood writers and actors went on strike for months partly due to concerns AI could be used to write scripts or replace actors, or trained using material written by writers. In an agreement to end the Writers Guild of America strike, AI cannot be used to write or rewrite literary material, and studios cannot force writers to use the technology, though writers are allowed to use AI if they have consent from studios. A separate strike by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists labor union ended after an agreement that included mandatory consent from actors or representatives for deceased actors for a studio to create digital replicas, and for studios to compensate performers if their digital replica is being used. Worries about AI extend well beyond the entertainment industry, though: According to a Pew Research study in July, around a fifth of all workers in the U.S. are in a job that is exposed to AI, meaning it can either be replaced or assisted by the technology. In May, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said the tech giant would stop hiring humans to fill roles that the company believes AI can perform.
AFL-CIO and Microsoft also struck a neutrality agreement for future organizing by workers in AFL-CIO affiliated unions. The neutrality agreement protects the right of employees to form or join unions and aims to create a “positive and cooperative” relationship between the unions and management. The framework follows the neutrality agreement last year between Microsoft and the Communications Workers of America Union involving video game developers at Activision and ZeniMax.
Microsoft and Labor Unions Form ‘Historic’ Alliance on AI (Bloomberg)
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