The U.S. Department of Labor this week released a list of artificial intelligence best practices for developers and employers, helping employers benefit from the potential time and cost savings of AI while protecting workers from discrimination and turnover. The purpose is to make it possible to
The voluntary guidelines come about a year after President Joe Biden signed an executive order assessing the transformative potential and risks of AI across the government and private sector. The order creates a White House AI Council, a framework for federal agencies to follow related to privacy protection, and guidelines on retaining AI talent, avoiding labor market impacts, and ensuring AI fairness. I was instructed to create a list. Use among others.
“To harness AI for good and realize its myriad benefits, we must mitigate its significant risks,” Biden said of his executive order last year. “This effort requires a whole-of-society effort, including governments, the private sector, academia and civil society.”
DOL’s guide, “Artificial Intelligence and Worker Well-Being: Principles and Best Practices for Developers and Employers,” includes public listening sessions and input from workers, unions, researchers, academics, employers, and developers. It was created based on. It aims to harness the potential for innovation and production while mitigating risks such as discrimination, data breaches and AI-based job displacement.
“Whether AI in the workplace harms workers and deepens inequality, or supports and expands opportunities for workers, depends (largely) on the decisions we make,” said DOL Secretary. said deputy Julie Hsu. “The stakes are high.”
This report shares eight principles and best practices, with our employees at the center of our ‘north star’. This guide will help ensure that workers, especially those in underserved communities, need to understand and have input into the design, development, testing, training, use, and monitoring of AI systems used in the workplace. It states that there is. This improves the quality of work and helps companies achieve results. Unions should negotiate in good faith about the use of AI and electronic surveillance in the workplace, the group said.
Other best practices include ethical development of AI with training that protects employees and incorporates employee feedback. Organizations must also have clear governance systems in place to evaluate AI used in the workplace and must be transparent about the AI systems they are using, the DOL said.
The department said AI systems cannot violate or undermine workers’ right to organize or interfere with workers’ health, safety, wage, anti-discrimination, and anti-retaliation protections. Therefore, before implementation, employers should audit their AI systems to identify potential discrimination based on “race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, age, genetic information, or other protected basis.” It is necessary to investigate the effects of public.
The report also outlines how employers can and should support their workers with AI. Before implementing AI tools, employers should consider the impact of AI tools on employment opportunities and be clear about the specific tasks they will perform. Employers that experience improved productivity or increased profits should consider sharing those gains with employees, such as through increased wages, improved benefits, or training, the DOL said.
The introduction of AI systems could cost workers their jobs, Su said in his summary. To mitigate this, employers should properly train employees to use these systems and, where possible, redeploy employees displaced by AI to other jobs within the organization. There is a need. Employers should reach out to state and local workforce education and upskilling programs so that employees can acquire new skills rather than be phased out by technology.
And finally, employers using AI that collect worker data must protect that data and should not collect more data than is absolutely necessary and without the free consent of workers. That data should not be shared outside the business.
The guidelines outlined by the DOL are not intended to be “a replacement for existing or future federal or state laws or regulations,” but are “a guiding framework for businesses” that can be customized with feedback from employees. the ministry said.
“We should think of AI as a potentially powerful technology for worker well-being, leveraging humanity’s collective talent to design AI with workers as beneficiaries of innovation, rather than obstacles.” “We need to use it,” Su said.
