Labour MP will tomorrow (Wednesday
17th May) introduce an “AI Bill of Rights” to protect
workers from the misuse of Artificial Intelligence in the
workplace.
The Member of Parliament for Birkenhead’s Artificial Intelligence
(Regulation and Workers’ Rights) Bill would create new rights for
workers, including a right to a human review of decisions made by
AI and a right to human contact when high risk decisions are made
in the workplace. The Bill would also establish a new statutory
duty for employers to consult with employees and their trade
unions before introducing AI into the workplace.
The Bill is being introduced amidst rising fears about the
rapidly developing sophistication and prevalence of AI-powered
technologies. In January 2022, 15% of all UK businesses and 68%
of large companies had adopted at least one form of AI into their
workplace.
Trade unions have called for there to be stronger oversight of AI
in the workplace. There are growing concerns that workers are
increasingly being managed and monitored by AI technologies and
that this is eroding their autonomy, privacy, and right to a
private life. The AI Bill would also for the first time introduce
a “right to disconnect”, allowing workers to opt out from work
communications and monitoring outside of working hours. Labour
Party Deputy Leader, , has confirmed that the
party is considering introducing a “right to switch off” if it
wins the next General Election.
Campaigners have also voiced concerns about AI perpetuating
discrimination in the workplace. Recent examples include Amazon
deploying a machine-learning tool that downgraded job
applications from women and disabled candidates complaining that
they were discriminated against by an AI video interviewing
system. said that his Bill would
strengthen equality law by making discriminatory data processing
expressly unlawful.
Speaking in Parliament this month, the Birkenhead MP said that we
should “embrace the potential of AI to change our lives for the
better” – pointing to potential advances in medical science - but
that the “benefits of this new technological revolution must be
shared by everyone, not just an elite few”.
The Labour MP has also criticised the government’s AI White
Paper, which sets out a “light touch” and “pro-innovation”
approach to the regulation of AI for falling short of more
ambitious legislation currently being considered in the European
Union and United States. He warned that the government’s strategy
would leave workers vulnerable to exploitation in the
workplace.