There will be a lot of debate in the coming days about the impact of AI rollouts on jobs.
The TUC has welcomed initiatives on early careers support, skills and worker voice – and said promises of fairness must be followed up with concrete action.
The TUC wants the government to go further to secure a digital dividend for workers, enact pro-worker rights and regulations, invest in skills to support workers through the AI transition, and enable workers to actively shape the technology’s development and application.
TUC Assistant General Secretary Kate Bell said: “By acknowledging the importance of workers and their unions in AI adoption, the government is taking the tentative first steps towards a pro-worker AI agenda – but more concrete action is needed to make it a reality.
“Fair and effective AI adoption requires respecting the voice, rights and interests of workers. But for too many, AI has become a byword for surveillance, algorithmic pay cuts, and threats of unemployment. Most working people are not anti-AI, but they want an alternative to Big Tech extracting from us all while offering little in return. Today’s announcements on skills and early careers are a good start.
“We don’t yet know how AI and its impacts are going to play out. But the right approach today can help to shape this technology from the ground up. Give workers legal rights to decide how AI is rolled out at work, make sure they’re represented on boards, and take on vested interests to ensure working people get their fair share. That’s how the government can give workers a real stake in this technology and the wider economy.”