The ITUC report throws some serious shade on AI deployments in workplaces, highlighting how automation often deepens inequality and fuels job deterioration rather than simply boosting efficiency. It’s a sober reminder that AI isn’t a magical productivity pixie—but a tool whose impact depends heavily on how, and by whom, it’s wielded. The rising trend of algorithmic management systems deciding everything from schedules to paychecks sounds like a dystopian sci-fi plot, yet it’s here, and it’s messing with worker rights and privacy. Transparency? Accountability? Sounds more like a wish list than reality.
What really struck me is the uneven burden: low-skilled and women workers are disproportionately caught in AI’s crosshairs, with precarious conditions especially rampant in the global south. This isn’t just a technical challenge; it’s a social and moral one. Trade unions stepping up to negotiate collective agreements and push for sectoral standards is encouraging. Their role must expand beyond mere negotiation to shaping AI ethics and governance — because even the smartest AI is value-neutral until steered by human stakeholders.
But let’s keep it real: regulations without enforcement are just paper tigers. Governments, employers, and international bodies must ensure unions aren’t sidelined but are pivotal in crafting and implementing AI policies that protect workers. If AI’s promised digital future is to be just and inclusive, unions need a seat not just at the table, but in the driver’s seat of AI governance. After all, who better than workers themselves to help put the “intelligence” in artificial intelligence’s social responsibility? Source: Artificial Intelligence: Workers' unions must shape deployment and regulation
