Katelyn Walker Mooney Acting Assistant Secretary for Policy | Official Website
Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su recently unveiled the U.S. Department of Labor’s AI Best Practices, a roadmap aimed at enhancing job quality and safeguarding workers' rights and well-being through artificial intelligence. The online event, held on October 16, 2024, gathered leaders from labor, business, non-profit sectors, and government to discuss the ethical use of AI in workplaces across the nation.
President Biden's Executive Order emphasizes the importance of developing AI responsibly with a focus on supporting American workers. Acting Secretary Su highlighted AI's transformative potential for jobs and workplaces. She stated: "We have a shared responsibility to ensure that AI is used to expand equality, advance equity, develop opportunity and improve job quality."
The best practices are intended to guide employers and developers in using AI to empower workers and enhance workplace conditions. Leaders at the event stressed the need for responsible AI development.
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler remarked: “Workers are the experts in how technology impacts their work. Unions give them a seat at the table so that we design technology that enhances their jobs, not degrades them.” She further noted that these best practices help employers understand worker engagement's value.
Rebecca Finlay, CEO of Partnership on AI, praised the guidelines: “These decision-making guides build on our Shared Prosperity Guidelines... Together, we are working to ensure that the benefits of AI are broadly shared so we have a future of work that works for all of us.”
Amy Pannoni from Microsoft Corp. expressed support for incorporating worker perspectives into AI principles: “We must ensure that AI serves the country’s workers... We applaud Acting Secretary Su’s leadership in implementing these principles.”
David Miller from SEIU United Healthcare Workers emphasized fair distribution of AI advantages: “The advantages gained from AI need to be fairly distributed among patients, payors, healthcare workers and providers..."
For more information about the department's AI Principles and Best Practices can be accessed online.
