[ad_1]
One in three Australians is at risk of losing their job to AI by 2030, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has revealed.
He wants workers’ rights to be included in AI legislation so that the future of the nation’s workers is not decided solely by multinational corporations that profit from the developing technology.
“Without immediate intervention, Australians in both knowledge-based and manual jobs are more vulnerable to mass job losses through AI than workers in other comparable OECD countries,” said a Social Policy Group report published in Tuesday.
The ACTU said it was calling for a “fair move into the digital age” and would use consultations with the Department of Industry, Science and Resources to press for coordinated government action on an economy-wide basis to protect all workers.
“Unions will never accept workers being abandoned,” said ACTU Assistant Secretary Joseph Mitchell.
A long list of recommendations for the nation’s adoption of AI were published in a November Senate committee report on the matter.
One such recommendation states that the final definition of “high-risk AI” clearly includes AI that affects people’s rights at work.
He demanded that creative workers, rights holders and their representative organizations be consistently consulted on the issue of copyright and the theft of their works by multinational technology companies and be properly compensated for any creative contribution of AI.
It also recommended that the existing occupational health and safety legislative framework should be expanded to include the workplace risks posed by the adoption of AI.
The ACTU said such regulations would help prevent companies from “using AI systems to undermine working conditions, reduce wages and engage in intrusive monitoring and surveillance”.
The findings in Tuesday’s report highlight the need for new investment and policy, according to the ACTU.
“Every Australian worker and small business will be alarmed by this research,” Mitchell said.
“This research highlights the importance of trade union campaigns for a ‘Made in Australia’ future in creating the jobs of the future, revitalizing our TAFE and vocational training system and investing in new jobs for a clean energy future.
“These Albanian Labor Government policies must be built on to deepen and diversify Australia’s economy – so we build a better future for all workers.”
“Workers’ rights and voices must be built into any government and workplace response to AI, and they must be central to future innovation policy.”
[ad_2]
