International Generally

 

OECD Employment Outlook 2023: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE LABOUR MARKET (OECD, 2023):

 

AI appears to be different from previous digital technological changes in several ways: i) it significantly expands the range of tasks that can be automated beyond just routine, non-cognitive tasks; ii) AI is a general-purpose technology, meaning that nearly every sector and occupation will be affected; and iii) the speed of development is unprecedented. [...]

 

Collective bargaining and social dialogue also have an important role to play in supporting workers and businesses in the AI transition. AI adoption tends to result in better outcomes for workers when their representatives are consulted on the matter. Yet, the specific characteristics of AI and the way it is implemented, such as its rapid speed of diffusion, its ability to learn and the greater power imbalance it can create, put further pressure on labour relations. While AI technologies have the potential to assist social partners to pursue their goals and strategies, the lack of AI-related expertise among social partners is a major challenge.

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Hiring, Recruiting, and Performance Evaluation

 

AI in Hiring and Evaluating Workers: What Americans Think (Tyson, et al, Pew Research, 2023):

 

A new Pew Research Center survey finds crosscurrents in the public’s opinions as they look at the possible uses of AI in workplaces. Americans are wary and sometimes worried. For instance, they oppose AI use in making final hiring decisions by a 71%-7% margin, and a majority also opposes AI analysis being used in making firing decisions. Pluralities oppose AI use in reviewing job applications and in determining whether a worker should be promoted. Beyond that, majorities do not support the idea of AI systems being used to track workers’ movements while they are at work or keeping track of when office workers are at their desks.

 

Yet there are instances where people think AI in workplaces would do better than humans. For example, 47% think AI would do better than humans at evaluating all job applicants in the same way, while a much smaller share– 15%– believe AI would be worse than humans in doing that. And among those who believe that bias along racial and ethnic lines is a problem in performance evaluations generally, more believe that greater use of AI by employers would make things better rather than worse in the hiring and worker-evaluation process.

 

How Artificial Intelligence Might Prevent You From Getting Hired (Akselrod & Venzke, ACLU, 2023):

 

Moreover, the correlations that an AI tool uncovers may not actually have a causal connection with being a successful employee, may not themselves be job-related, and may be proxies for protected characteristics. For example, one resume screening tool identified being named Jared and playing high school lacrosse as correlated with being a successful employee. Likewise, the amorphous personality traits that many AI tools are designed to measure — characteristics such as positivity, ability to handle pressure, or extroversion — are often not necessary for the job, may reflect standards and norms that are culturally specific, or can screen out candidates with disabilities such as autism, depression, or attention deficit disorder.

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