Labour list reports
The TUC and legal experts have warned that there are “huge gaps” in the law over the use of artificial intelligence at work and called on the government, tech companies and employers to back legal reforms for its “fair and transparent” use.
The intervention from the trade union federation follows the publication of a report, commissioned by the organisation and carried out by employment rights lawyers Robin Allen QC and Dee Masters from the AI Law Consultancy, today.
The paper concluded that unless new legal protections are urgently secured, workers will become increasingly vulnerable and powerless to challenge “inhuman” forms of AI performance management. The legal reforms proposed by the TUC are:
- “A legal duty on employers to consult trade unions on the use of ‘high-risk’ and intrusive forms of AI in the workplace;
- “A legal right for all workers to have a human review of decisions made by AI systems so they can challenge decisions that are unfair and discriminatory;
- “Amendments to the UK general data protection regulation (UK GDPR) and Equality Act to guard against discriminatory algorithms; and
- “A legal right to ‘switch off’ from work so workers can create ‘communication-free’ time in their lives.”
The 115-page document warned that the use of AI has been accelerated since the start of the coronavirus pandemic last year with AI-powered technologies making “high-risk, life changing” decisions about the lives of employees.
The report identified some of the decisions made, including selecting candidates for interview, providing day-to-day line management, awarding performance ratings, making shift allocation and deciding who is disciplined or made redundant.
Risk to gig economy workers is especially high. The report highlighted the recent example of BAME Uber Eats couriers, who reported that they were fired because the company’s facial identification software could not recognise their faces.
Read full LL article at
The Paper
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