Fighting for public employee voice in the use of AI: ‘Lots of promise and lots of peril’

Attendees at the Public Employees Jim McGarvey Breakfast on Tuesday morning heard from labor journalist and scholar Steven Greenhouse. The son of an AFT teacher and a unionized social worker, he spoke to attendees about how the rapidly accelerating use of artificial intelligence affects public sector workers and what they can do about it.

While Greenhouse noted the possibilities AI brings for public employees-like chatbots that can offer information to people seeking government services 24/7-he also shared concerns about the potential for mass layoffs. The McKinsey Global Institute estimates that 30 percent of U.S. workers' tasks might be automated by 2030, and Goldman Sachs economists think the use of AI could disrupt 300 million jobs worldwide in that same period.

According to Greenhouse, public employees need to know and care about AI because many government agencies are already using it. Bots help caseworkers in Ohio fill out Medicaid paperwork; an AI system processes food stamp applications in New York City; and AI identifies whether defendants in criminal cases should be released before trial in Allegheny County, Pa., and Mesa, Ariz.

But should AI have that kind of power? Recent investigations have shown that AI systems frequently predicted the likelihood of repeat domestic violence incorrectly, with deadly results, and that racial bias is built into algorithms that predict recidivism, affecting decisions that shape thousands of people's lives.

Unions have an important role to play in making sure these technologies are used ethically and responsibly, Greenhouse said. He praised the AFL-CIO's Technology Institute, which is working to protect job quality, and the AFT's activism, quoting AFT President Randi Weingarten: "We can't let innovation get so far ahead of accountability that accountability can never catch up."

It's essential that public employees are involved in the design and implementation of AI and related technologies in their workplaces-and that they share in the benefits these technologies bring. Greenhouse believes we can learn from the precedent set by the Writers Guild of America in its 2023 contract negotiations, which established AI as a topic of bargaining and gave workers a voice-and a choice-in how AI is used. As with so many other new technologies, workers can and must lead the way in the use of AI.

[Sharone Carmona; photo by Pam Wolfe]