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Artificial intelligence could lead to workplace surveillance, discrimination, despite the projected boost to the economy
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Artificial intelligence could lead to workplace surveillance, discrimination, despite the projected boost to the economy

Workers could be closely monitored and discriminated against without proper oversight of AI in the workplace, unions say.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions has called for the introduction of a national artificial intelligence authority to regulate the adoption of technology in the workplace.

But the Business Council of Australia warned against introducing more red tape, saying it could prevent businesses from having a “competitive advantage” over overseas companies.

A parliamentary inquiry into the digital transformation of jobs examines the benefits and risks of automated decision-making in Australia.

Artificial intelligence could boost the economy

American multinational financial services company Goldman Sachs said AI has the potential to increase global annual productivity by 1.3%.

The International Monetary Fund has said that around 40% of jobs worldwide have been exposed to AI and that around 60% of jobs in advanced economies could be affected.

About half of the exposed jobs could benefit from AI integration and increased productivity, according to the IMF, but the rest could be replaced.

Brisbane cityscape with Commonwealth, Suncorp, Telstra office buildings

Artificial intelligence will have a major impact on job creation for the future. (ABC News: Christopher Gillette)

Business Council of Australia chief executive Bran Black told the ABC Australia needed to embrace AI because it gave local businesses a “competitive edge”.

Mr Black said AI was already being used to make workplaces safer or more productive.

“Some of our financial services members … have loan appraisers, and those loan appraisers once would have had to spend hour upon hour reviewing loan materials,” Mr. Black said.

“Much of this work is now done using AI, but the important part is that it gives assessors the opportunity to focus on the value-adding part of their role.

“We’re already seeing companies rely on AI to try to gain a competitive edge.”

Mr Black said it was important that Australian businesses could catch up with their overseas competitors who were racing to adopt AI in their workplaces.

A man dressed in a suit, sitting in an office.

Bran Black says AI is making workplaces safer and more productive. (ABC News: Simon Beardsell)

“So it’s important for us here in Australia to try and, as much as we can, achieve that same opportunity so we’re not left behind,” he said.

ACTU Assistant Secretary Joseph Mitchell said the adoption of AI has been helpful in some industries such as healthcare.

Mr Mitchell said AI has the potential to remove much of the administrative work for healthcare workers.

“For example, in the healthcare industry … (AI can) improve scan interpretation to reduce the significant administrative burden on our healthcare professionals,” Mr Mitchell said.

Workplace surveillance, AI discrimination poses a risk to employees

However, Mr Mitchell said AI has the potential to enable workplace monitoring, increase work intensity and lead to discrimination in recruitment.

He said healthcare workers who saved time on administrative tasks with artificial intelligence could develop burnout if they replaced this with additional hours of patient contact.

“That reflection and that time taking clinical notes and documenting the patient journey … if that’s just replaced with additional hours of patient contact, we’re really concerned that we’re leading to burnout,” he said.

A robot that looks like a CCTV camera is attached to the front of a research vessel.

There are fears that increased workplace monitoring will put additional stress on employees. (Provided by: CSIRO)

“We believe a balance needs to be struck between productivity-enhancing technology and burnout and stress and work intensification.”

Mitchell said unions are concerned that AI could also lead to workplace surveillance.

“Things like their location, how often they go to the toilet, what they’re doing with their hands at any given time, where they’re looking and who they’re talking to,” he said.

“Even things like rostering decisions where workers don’t have visibility into the characteristics used to determine whether or not people are put on a shift and what kind of shifts they’re given.

“Ultimately, employers should be really transparent about how they’re using AI and what kind of problems they’re trying to solve with it.”

Businesses needed to consult with workers before introducing AI into the workplace, Mr Mitchell said.

“What characterizes the positive introduction is that workers are part of the story … when they come to introduce AI,” he said.

Joseph Mitchell smiles.

Joseph Mitchell says employees should be consulted on any plans to introduce artificial intelligence into the workplace. (Provided by: ACTU)

Andreas Cebulla from the Australian Institute for Industrial Transformation said it was not known how the integration of AI might affect how much people are paid.

“What we don’t know is how this will affect how jobs are evaluated and literally paid in the workplace,” said Dr. Onions.

“As tasks change, so will one’s position in an employment hierarchy.”

Dr. Cebulla said AI needs to be introduced to the workplace “collaboratively” so that everyone understands how it will be used.

“Once you introduce a tool, there are going to be people who are going to use it, so you have to teach them,” he said.

Does Australia need to regulate the use of AI in the workplace?

In September, the Australian government proposed introducing 10 “mandatory” handrails for high-risk AI.

The government said it would look at three regulatory approaches, from amending existing regulations to introducing an AI-specific law for savings.

In a submission to the inquiry into the digital transformation of jobs, the ACTU called for the establishment of a national artificial intelligence authority.

The ACTU said the authority would provide “a coordinated and unified national policy approach that balances innovation, development, risk, regulation and rights”.

Mitchell said Australia needed a centralized means to ensure AI did not impede workers’ rights.

“We don’t want to see different arms of government working in different directions and creating loopholes in the process when responding to issues that affect them,” he said.

“Workers already have the right not to be discriminated against, but we don’t want to see discrimination enabled by artificial intelligence just because it’s introduced into the workplace.”

But Mr Black warned against introducing new AI regulations and said businesses could work with existing laws on surveillance and discrimination.

He said businesses are already burdened with enough red tape.

“The Fair Work Act already has quite important provisions dealing with these types of issues,” he said.

“We should rely on our existing regulations before considering the need for new regulation.”

Dr. Cebulla said current workplace legislation has worked so far, but standards need to be in place to ensure AI is safe.

“There haven’t been many cases where a different set of regulations would have been helpful … so at the moment everything is handled through conventional legislation,” he said.

“What we don’t have is a reliable system to ensure that the technology itself is safe.”