Australian Council of Trade Unions confident new government AI plan will support workers

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The Australian government has released a guide for the development of artificial intelligence. It aims to accelerate the spread and development of AI using existing frameworks, and sees a temporary end to work on mandatory guidelines. Liam O’Brien is from the ACTU. He's confident the government's approach will support workers in their fight for their jobs.

Transcript

00:00We think this is a really crucial first step when it comes to ensuring that workers' rights

00:07are fit for purpose in the age of AI. We're really glad to see that the government has

00:11recognised that workers' rights need to be central to the way in which AI is rolled out

00:15in workplaces, but more broadly across the community, because workers are rightly sceptical,

00:20especially when we see what's been happening when it comes to AI. Too often the stories

00:25that we're hearing around AI being rolled out in the workplace is one where workers

00:29aren't being consulted, where workers are being asked to undertake tasks like training

00:33chatbots that will take their jobs, or indeed AI being used in their workplace for intrusive

00:38surveillance. So we think the government's plan is an important first step when it comes

00:42to ensuring that workers' rights are central when it comes to the rollout of AI.

00:46So are you confident, Liam, that no jobs will be lost because of this plan?

00:51We think that's a really important point, and we think it's absolutely important that

00:55this plan does address the real concern that workers, and indeed the community have got,

01:01around the likelihood around AI displacing their work. Too often we are hearing stories

01:05about workers losing their jobs to AI. AI should be something that assists us, that benefits

01:11the community, that ensures that work is genuinely augmented, not replaced. And we think that

01:16the plan is a really important first step, along with the AI Safety Institute, to ensuring

01:21that the AI rollout is both fair, effective, but ultimately one that benefits all Australians.

01:26Is there a fear, though, that AI services provided by international corporations, US big tech

01:33so-called, will replace Australian workers? Look, we think this is a real concern and something

01:39that we're hopeful that the plan and indeed the Institute will really start to grapple with.

01:44The fact of the matter is, is we need to be on guard for the fact that big tech has made

01:48lots of promises about the benefits of AI, but too often we're hearing about the downside

01:53effects. Workers losing their jobs or indeed work being eroded in terms of its quality.

01:58So we need to make sure that companies both here and indeed across the globe are working

02:03to ensure that that's not the case. We think the AI plan is a crucial first step to making

02:08that happen.

02:09Liam, there was this option of introducing mandatory guardrails or hard rules to manage

02:14the worst potential harms of artificial intelligence. The government has paused work on that, decided

02:20instead to pursue existing frameworks. Next year, as you say, an AI Safety Institute will

02:25identify, advise government on blind spots in the regulations as they arise. Do you have

02:31faith, though, that the Institute is a better option than mandatory guardrails? Is there a danger

02:36in this approach that some issues could slip through the net in the race for productivity

02:41gains?

02:42Well, let's come back to first principles. When we commenced this process more than a year

02:47ago, we were mostly concerned with how AI is being rolled out in the workplace and ensuring

02:52that we're protecting workers' rights. We're glad to see that in the plan that has been central.

02:57The government has acknowledged that workers' rights and indeed ensuring community benefit

03:01is central to the rollout of the plan. We need to make sure that that is the case. We need

03:06to be vigilant in terms of making sure that where there are gaps in workplace laws or other

03:10laws that we're closing them quickly to ensure that workers have a right to be consulted about

03:15how AI is being used in the workplace, to ensure that AI is not being used in a way that undermines

03:20or erodes workers' rights and that we have up-to-date, essentially fit-for-purpose workers' rights

03:26in the age of AI.

03:27You say you hope that the plan will augment workers. What guarantees, though, do you have

03:31that workers will be up-skilled by companies to meet the needs of an AI economy and keep

03:37their jobs?

03:38I think there's two things that the government has really called out in this plan that are

03:41really central to ensuring that work genuinely is augmented. The first is ensuring that workers

03:46have genuine agency and that they are consulted about how AI is being introduced in their workplace

03:51and the types of systems that are being involved. But just as important is ensuring that workers

03:55have the skills to be able to use AI, to ensure that it is genuinely uplifting their work, that

04:01it's adding value to their work, that it's not displacing them. We know that the transition

04:06to AI is going to be significant. Workers need to up-skill rapidly and we're glad that the government

04:11has put skills right at the centre of that AI plan.

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