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Microsoft Collaborates with Unions to Address Worries Over AI Replacing Jobs

Microsoft declared on Monday that they would collaborate with labor unions to form a "consultative discussion" on the future of artificial intelligence (AI) and the labor force. This partnership happens as Microsoft and other AI producers confront increased strain from labor organizations and regulatory organizations concerning how AI will substitute workers. The combination will contain Microsoft-facilitated labor gatherings to comprise opinions from labor chiefs and employees. Microsoft on Monday declared an alliance with a key labor group, which represents 60 unions and over 12.5 million workers, to open up a discussion about the future of artificial intelligence and allay apprehensions that AI may substitute jobs. The partnership with the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations emerges as Microsoft and other AI vendors encounter increased caution from labor groups and governing bodies over how AI will replace workers. The alliance will include AI instructional sessions for the workforce, "experiential workshops" focusing on distinct AI career options between 2024 and 2026 in addition to Microsoft-hosted labor summits to include comment from labor heads and employees. Its three objectives are: providing labor chiefs and laborers with profound understanding on AI technology trends; incorporating worker observations and expertise in the development of AI technology; and lending a hand in forming public policy that backs up the technical aptitudes and requirements of frontline personnel. AI providers have built up their answers to public pressure and queries regarding how their technologies may affect employees. This may be partly because of the escalating concerns that new technologies can be used to carry out tasks presently done by humans. A September Gallup survey showed that 1 in 5 college-educated employees is anxious that tech could render their jobs expendable, seven percentage points higher than in 2021. Amazon said in October it would collaborate with MIT "to better comprehend how personnel and organizations are affected" by AI and robotics as Amazon staff voiced intensifying anxiety over the push to execute and meet targets. In May, IBM declared ideas to swap approximately 8,000 jobs with AI, however CEO Arvind Krishna told CNBC the agency is prioritizing "massively upskilling all of our employees on AI," and he foresees the technology mainly replacing back-office functions. The tech titans' steps come along with the risk of heightened regulation. In October, President Joe Biden's first-ever executive order on AI included a section on supporting workers as AI evolves, particularly by delivering a report on the probable labor market consequences of AI and studying the ways the federal government could back personnel influenced by a disturbance to the labor market. The executive order also outlined a plan to create principles and best practices to "ameliorate the harms and maximize the advantages of AI for laborers," with an emphasis on job displacement, labor standards and workplace equity.

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