Unions, workers, academics and politicians have met in Parliament House to discuss protecting jobs in an AI world. Photo: Region.
A ‘first of its kind’ public symposium has been held at Parliament House to ensure workers are central to any regulations around the uptake of artificial technology.
Hosted by the ACTU on Wednesday (3 September), the forum heard from frontline workers who had already lost their jobs to AI, as well as academics and representatives from the Federal Government on their considerations for moving ahead with a strategy for the technology.
With the theme of “seizing the opportunities of AI while protecting the fair go”, the symposium exposed several challenges in getting the mix right and ensuring jobs are protected.
The union movement stressed that great attention must be paid to regulatory guardrails in steering the future rollout of AI in Australia.
ACTU assistant secretary Joseph Mitchell said those safeguards must require employers to consult with their staff before new AI technologies are introduced into workplaces.
“We want Australia’s digital future to be one where working people have a voice in the uptake of AI and get the skills and training needed to seize the opportunities AI can bring,” he said.
“What we don’t want is Australia following a United States-style ‘let it rip’ approach, where the benefits of the new technology and productivity flow through to multinational tech companies, leaving workers without a say or a meaningful stake in the potential gains.
“Workers showed that AI can bring benefits, if brought in with workers who have a fair say in how AI is used and are trained to work with it … Working people need to know their key concerns, such as job security, are not going to be left unprotected.”
The forum heard about the good employers who are consulting their workforces, but a national regulatory framework would mean that all employers must follow their lead and engage workers in the adoption of AI.
AI agreements would need to include guarantees regarding job security, skills development and retraining, transparency in the use of AI technology, as well as genuine privacy and data protection.
Unions are also calling for the protection of workers’ creative output from content theft and for the regulation of AI through a National Artificial Intelligence Authority.
Industry and Innovation Minister Tim Ayres addressed the symposium, noting that the one thing that would have a more disruptive and negative effect in terms of jobs and the labour market is if Australia stepped back.
“There is a competitive question here. My orientation is leaning in – let’s shape this together across the Australian community,” Senator Ayres said.
“It is different to robotics or automation. The set of technologies that are engaged here does have a different quality.
“Excel spreadsheets knocked over the jobs of hundreds of thousands of bookkeepers all around the world. It’s a narrow tool with a narrow set of purposes.
“AI is a general-purpose technology that will reshape the way that we think about and use technology.”
Senator Ayres said the role of the government is to foster innovation and investment with the deployment of the new technology through the economy.
It is also necessary to attend to the regulatory questions.
“As we work through those questions of regulation, it’s as much about providing certainty for the investment community,” he said.
“It’s also about the capability of government itself to meet challenges, and it’s about the capability and institutions of Australians themselves to lift and engage with these technologies.”
Assistant Minister for Productivity Andrew Leigh led a panel session on making the most of AI as part of a productivity agenda. He painted a picture of the technology presenting opportunities for workers.
“Some voices tell us AI means the end of work. We hear that robots will take every job, that plumbers and carers will be replaced by circuits and code. But the truth is more hopeful,” Dr Leigh said.
“Across advanced economies, the challenge is not too few jobs, it is too few workers.
“With ageing populations, shrinking birth rates and labour shortages, the demand for human expertise will remain strong.
“The Productivity Commission has found that AI could underpin a wave of productivity growth in Australia.
“That is not just a number on a page, it is a reminder that with the right choices, AI can help us lift living standards and sustain the fair go.
“The risk of AI is not mass unemployment, but the devaluation of expertise. If every task is treated as generic, then no job is valued, and inequality soars.
“But if AI is harnessed to extend expertise, to allow more workers to exercise judgment, solve problems and take responsibility, then work becomes more rewarding and society fairer.”
