Department of Labor's Artificial Intelligence and Worker Wellbeing: Principles for Developers and Employers
Since taking office, President Biden, Vice President Harris, and the entire Biden-Harris administration have acted with urgency to harness the potential of AI to spur innovation, advance opportunity, and transform the nature of many jobs and industries, while while protecting workers from risk. who may not share these benefits. As part of this commitment, the Executive Order on AI directed the Department of Labor to create Principles for developers and employers when using AI in the workplace. These Principles will create a roadmap for developers and employers on how to leverage AI technologies for their businesses while ensuring that workers benefit from the new opportunities created by AI and are protected from its potential harms.
The precise scope and nature of how AI will change the workplace remains uncertain. AI can positively augment work by replacing and automating repetitive tasks or assisting with routine decisions, which can reduce the burden on workers and allow them to better perform other responsibilities. Consequently, the introduction of AI-powered work will create a demand for workers to acquire new skills and training to learn how to use AI in their daily work. AI will also continue to create new jobs, including those focused on the development, implementation, and human oversight of AI. But AI-powered work also poses risks if workers no longer have autonomy and direction over their work or if the quality of their employment declines. The risks of AI to workers are greatest if it undermines worker rights, incorporates bias and discrimination into decision-making processes, or makes consequential workplace decisions without human transparency, oversight, and review. There are also risks that AI will completely displace workers from their jobs.
In recent years, unions and employers have come together to collectively negotiate new agreements that establish sensible and protective barriers for workers around the use of AI and automated systems in the workplace. To provide AI developers and employers across the country with a shared set of guidelines, the Department of Labor developed โArtificial Intelligence and Worker Wellbeing: Principles for Developers and Employersโ as directed by President Biden. Executive Order on the Safe and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligencewith contributions from workers, unions, researchers, academics, employers and developers, among others, and through public listening sessions.
APPLY THE PRINCIPLES
The following Principles apply to the development and implementation of AI systems in the workplace and should be considered throughout the AI โโlifecycle: from design to development, testing, training, deployment and use. , supervision and audit. The Principles are applicable to all sectors and are intended to be mutually reinforcing, although not all Principles will apply to the same extent in all industries or workplaces. The Principles are not intended to be an exhaustive list but rather a guiding framework for businesses. AI developers and employers should review and customize best practices based on their own context and with input from workers.
The Department's AI Principles for Developers and Employers include:
- [North Star] Focus on worker empowerment: Workers and their representatives, especially those from underserved communities, must be informed and have genuine input in the design, development, testing, training, use and supervision of AI systems for use in the workplace.
- Develop AI ethically: AI systems must be designed, developed and trained in a way that protects workers.
- Establishing AI governance and human oversight: Organizations should have clear governance systems, procedures, human oversight and evaluation processes for AI systems for use in the workplace.
- Ensure transparency in the use of AI: Employers should be transparent with workers and job applicants about artificial intelligence systems used in the workplace.
- Protection of labor and employment rights: AI systems must not violate or undermine workers' right to organize, health and safety rights, wage and hour rights, and protections against discrimination and retaliation.
- Using AI to enable workers: AI systems should help, complement and train workers and improve the quality of employment.
- Support workers affected by AI: Employers should support or upskill workers during AI-related job transitions.
- Guarantee the responsible use of worker data: Worker data collected, used or created by AI systems should be limited in scope and location, used only to support legitimate business objectives, and protected and handled responsibly.
