AI and labour rights

AI Governance for Africa > Part 1 > Section 10

What is the intersection between AI and labour rights?

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A common consideration in AI governance is the likely impact of AI and automation on the job market.

This concern can take two overarching themes. First, AI’s capacity to replace jobs that have been traditionally conducted by humans. Second, AI’s capacity to create new jobs and skills. It therefore becomes important for regulatory frameworks to consider and protect workers’ rights.

The UNESCO Recommendation on AI Ethics calls on Member States to consider labour rights by using impact statements to understand the rights implications of AI. The Recommendation puts forward five suggestions on this question.

These may be summed up as follows:

• A potential revision of education requirements across all levels can equip people to either integrate into or adapt to a job-market that uses AI systems. Transparency around these skills is essential.
• The development of bridging courses across all industries, and enterprises of various sizes, can help boost the skill set needed by workers. These courses should be done through collaboration between government, academic institutions, industry, workers’ organisations, and civil society.
• Member States must proactively ensure that at-risk employees undergo a fair transition and that “safety net” programmes are created for those who may not be retained in the job market. Revisions to applicable tax regimes may be a useful measure in response to mass unemployment as a result of AI-based automation.
• Member States should encourage ongoing research into the impact of AI systems on the labour environment and forecast trends and challenges.
• Lastly, competition and consumer protection frameworks should be bolstered to mitigate abuse of domain market positions concerning the lifecycle of AI systems.

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