Half of adults in the UK are concerned about the impact of artificial intelligence on their job, according to a poll, as union leaders call for a “step change” in the country’s approach to new technologies.
Job losses or changes to terms and conditions were the biggest worries for the 51% of 2,600 adults surveyed for the Trades Union Congress who said they were concerned about the technology.
AI is a particular concern for workers aged between 25 and 34, with nearly two-thirds (62%) of those surveyed reporting such worries.
The TUC poll was released as a string of large employers – including BT, Amazon , and Microsoft – have said in recent months that advances in AI could lead them to cut jobs.
Britain’s job market is slowing amid a cooling economy, with the UK’s official jobless rate at a four-year high of 4.7%, although most economists do not believe this is linked to an acceleration in investment in AI.
The TUC believes AI technologies can benefit workers and help improve public services, but is calling on the government to involve workers and trade unions in AI as it is rolled out across workplaces, in order to protect jobs and provide training to people whose roles are replaced by AI.
Half of those surveyed (50%) said they wanted a say in how AI is used in workplaces and across the wider economy, rather than leaving it to businesses, while only 17% of respondents opposed this.
As part of its plan for AI, the TUC is calling for conditions to be attached to the billions of pounds of public money being spent on AI research and development, to ensure workers are not replaced by new technologies.
In addition, it wants assurances that workers will receive a “digital dividend” of the productivity gains achieved through AI, by requiring companies to invest in workforce skills and training, by improving pay and conditions for employees and by empowering workers to shape companies’ decision making, including workers on boards.
The union body warns that without such guardrails, where workers are allowed to determine when and how AI is used, the increased use of new technologies could lead to “rampant inequality”, a deterioration in working conditions and greater social unrest.
The UK’s social security and skills systems should also be strengthened, the TUC said, to help to retain and reskill workers whose jobs are put at risk by AI.
The TUC’s assistant general secretary, Kate Bell, said: “AI could have transformative potential, and if developed properly, workers can benefit from the productivity gains this technology may bring.”
She added: “The alternative is bleak. Left unmanaged and in the wrong hands, the AI revolution could entrench rampant inequality as jobs are degraded or displaced, and shareholders get richer.”
