On 13 January, Keir Starmer announced his AI Opportunities Action Plan, a roadmap that offers 50 recommendations for the government to increase adoption of AI across the economy, to boost growth.
Starmer said that AI “will drive incredible change” in the UK and “has the potential to transform the lives of working people”.
However, employers should involve workers in the AI rollout, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham warned in a statement.
“The introduction of AI in the workplace must be something that happens with workers and not to workers,” she said.
“The UK needs to embrace new technologies, but we also need proper protections from AI’s pitfalls, and workers must have a say in how that happens.
“Government, employers and unions all need to be working together to avoid the potential dangers of workplace AI.”
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Employers must ensure they understand how the AI plan will impact workers, Simon Daly, employee strategy director at employee experience platform Qualtrics, told HR magazine.
He said: “Given the rate at which the government plans to turbocharge AI across both the public and private sectors, business leaders have a responsibility to make sure they are first taking the time to understand how AI will truly benefit their employees.”
The action plan is set to create “AI growth zones” to drive AI adoption across key industries of the private sector such as banking and the creative industries. The plan recommended that the government help workers adapt to AI with skills and jobs.
The plan also outlined how the government could rapidly pilot AI-powered services in the public sector, such as using AI-enabled tools to fix potholes and help teachers prepare for lessons.
Anton Roe, CEO of HR software provider MHR, suggested that employers should ensure AI advancements meet a “genuine need”.
Speaking to HR magazine, he said: “Organisations must put people at the centre of these advancements by ensuring that AI solves a genuine problem that employees need support with, instead of another tech rollout for the sake of it.
“By aligning investment with a commitment to upskilling employees and addressing evolving workforce needs, the UK is in a better position to achieve the government’s aim of turbocharging AI.”
Employers must allow workplaces to have representatives of workers’ experience with AI, a Unite spokesperson commented.
They told HR magazine: “There is no reason that AI technology should simply benefit the wealthy. The key to preventing this occurring is for workplaces to have collective bargaining (workplace negotiations) in place where unions represent workers.
“Unite has been successful in many workplaces in getting new technology agreements introduced which set out clear conditions to ensure that AI and other forms of new technology are only introduced to protect the jobs, pay and conditions of workers.
“It is essential that the number of such agreements is greatly expanded so that workers know that new technology and AI is introduced with them, not to them."
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Unite's spokesperson expressed concern over the potential impact of AI on worker surveillance and algorithm discrimination.
They continued: “Agreements are essential to ensure that situations such as intensive surveillance in call centres or obsessive in-cab monitoring of lorry drivers, are avoided. Both are dehumanising and stifling.
“One area which is not open to debate is the use of algorithms in recruitment and HR processes. Unite is entirely opposed to these as they embed and increase racism, sexism and other forms of bias and discrimination.”
HR is responsible for aligning business leaders’ and employees’ expectations of AI, Daly added.
He continued: “Increased productivity is always referred to as a key benefit of AI, but according to employees, they want to use the extra time AI saves them to increase the quality and efficiency of their work, rather than increasing the amount of work they produce.
“Understanding these nuances directly from the people who will be expected to use AI as part of their everyday work life will help ensure a smoother transition to a wider use of the technology.
“The most important challenges to address in mitigating the gap between how senior leaders and employees feel about AI involve working to build trust with people by shifting their perceptions and expectations of the technology.”