AI dominates Public Employees divisional meeting

The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on public service jobs dominated the discussion at the AFT Public Employees divisional meeting today at the AFT convention in Houston. AI is currently doing everything from tracking child support payments to assisting attorneys with legal discovery; and the union needs to be ready for how public sector work will continue to change, said Randi DiAntonio, vice president of the Public Employees Federation (PEF) in New York.

"Labor has a huge role in this," DiAntonio said. "If you're not in a union that is talking about this, you're going to be behind the eight ball. It's coming, it's here and it's a nonpartisan issue. We need to go back to our labor management tables and make sure people know what AI is, that they are already using it every day, and that it will impact their jobs."

The concern around AI is exacerbated by an across-the-board staffing shortage in public services, which has led some employers to lean further on AI to fill gaps. Managing how it impacts jobs can be more difficult to address when it becomes a question of filling the job.

"We have to start educating our members about how this will affect them because this could replace them," said Wayne Spence, president of PEF. "We need to codify something now to protect ourselves in the future."

An additional concern is which jobs AI programs are starting to fill, DiAntonio said. For example, there are AI programs that can review engineering reports to determine which roads and bridges need to be serviced. Removing human experience and expertise from that process is something public employees should be able to discuss with employers and legislators.

"We need to be concerned about this," DiAntonio said.

[Melanie Boyer, photo by Suzannah Hoover]