The Guardian: Trump’s Rollback of AI Guardrails Leaves US Workers ‘At Real Risk’, Labor Experts Warn

Donald Trump’s rollback of basic guardrails for artificial intelligence leaves US workers “at real risk”, labor experts have warned.

Protections introduced under Joe Biden to ensure the safe, secure and trustworthy development and use of AI were swiftly repealed by the Trump administration – as top executives outlined sweeping plans to overhaul the labor force.

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Among the guidelines removed by the Trump administration were directives issued by the US Department of Labor to ensure employers create and implement AI in the workplace without diminishing job quality or violating workers’ rights.

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“It strips out consideration of civil rights, job quality and the impact on workers,” said Josh Boxerman, government affairs manager for the National Employment Law Project.

He pointed to concerns about the degrading quality of jobs, rather than their displacement. AI is increasingly being used to manage workers, from impacts on surveillance and productivity pressures on Amazon warehouse workers, algorithm management of ride share drivers with gig apps such as Uber and Lyft, and recent growing trends of gig work in the healthcare industry, including algorithms used to mass deny health insurance claims and apps using AI to undercut pay and working conditions for nurses.

“The story of displacement right now is not just workers being replaced by robots or work being automated away, but also workers being replaced or jobs being replaced by jobs of lower quality,” said Boxerman. Trump, he noted, won back the presidency last year after successfully seeking support from the working class.

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Read the full article at theguardian.com.