Microsoft Signs A Deal With AFL-CIO On AI Labour Neutrality
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and Microsoft Corp. announced a new partnership to discuss how artificial intelligence (AI) must anticipate worker needs and include their voices in its development and implementation.
The partnership is the first between a labor organization and a technology company to focus on AI. It will share in-depth information with labor leaders and workers on AI technology trends, incorporate worker perspectives and expertise in AI technology development, and help shape public policy that supports frontline workers’ technology skills and needs.
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Microsoft and the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of international labor unions, have reached an agreement on unionization and the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace. The deal highlights a commitment to worker inclusion in AI development and education, aiming… pic.twitter.com/QtTFjtuYoS
— Olivvia Lollis (@Olivvia7235) December 12, 2023
The partnership includes a neutrality framework for future worker organizing by AFL-CIO affiliate unions based on the historic neutrality agreement the Communications Workers of America Union (CWA) negotiated with Microsoft covering video game workers at Activision and Zenimax and Microsoft’s June 2022 labor principles. This framework establishes a collaborative commitment to respect employees’ ability to create or join unions, promote constructive and cooperative labor-management interactions, and negotiate collective bargaining agreements that benefit workers in a rapidly changing technology environment. This unprecedented cooperation preserves worker rights, learns from labor leaders as we create technology, and helps us teach people AI-era skills.
The cooperation will achieve these goals:
- AI education for workers and students: Microsoft will offer formal training on the latest and future advancements in AI, giving labor leaders and workers with vital knowledge and insights. These will start with winter 2024 learning sessions led by Microsoft AI specialists who will explain how AI works, where it’s heading, its prospects, and its difficulties.
- The partners have created a way for labor leaders and workers to directly share their experiences, concerns, and feedback with Microsoft’s AI developers to ensure that their expertise and perspectives inform the technology’s development. This engagement will start with unions and workers in critical areas.
- The AFL-CIO and Microsoft will work together to propose and support policies that will give workers the skills, knowledge, and economic support they need to succeed in an AI-powered economy as Congress debates future AI and workforce legislation in the House and Senate Committees and the bipartisan AI Insight Forums.
Both sides recognize AI may improve workers’ careers if utilized to supplement labor rather than reduce agency and responsibility. New AFL-CIO survey finds 70% of workers fear AI replacement. Meanwhile, 70% of workers in a Microsoft poll said they would assign as much work as possible to AI to reduce their workloads. Workers’ voices must be central to the AI-assisted future to enhance careers and enrich our lives. Microsoft and the AFL-CIO formed this labor-tech cooperation to guarantee workers’ representatives and concerns are heard.
