Policies are needed to protect Melbourne’s workers from likely job losses amid the disruptive rise of artificial intelligence, warns former New York mayor Bill De Blasio.
De Blasio, who is speaking at this week’s Melbourne Assembly civic forum at Federation Square, warns the outsize impact of the rise of AI goes well beyond the land and water swallowed up by data centres, an issue that has spurred local opposition.
AI is already disrupting job markets around the world. Mass redundancies at Silicon Valley’s big tech companies have targeted jobs including those of programmers and software engineers.
In Australia, companies including Atlassian, WiseTech Global and Microsoft have all tied job cuts to the rise of AI.
These cuts are predicted by many experts to spread to a larger group of white-collar workers such as customer service representatives, telemarketers, accountants, bookkeepers, payroll clerks and human resources specialists.
De Blasio wants to see worker displacement legislation to ensure proper recompense for workers who are being replaced with AI.
In New York an Automation Displacement Protection Act has been proposed which would cover employers with more than 50 workers and mandate 90 days’ written notice prior to AI-driven job displacement that affected 25 per cent or more of the workforce.
The proposal includes a 90-day transition period for workers with continued pay, retraining support and protection against termination without just cause.
“Instead of simply throwing former workers a bone, this policy guarantees that the profits companies make via automating jobs get substantially ploughed back into those who gave so much to their companies and then were left behind,” De Blasio will tell the Melbourne Assembly.
Minister for Artificial Intelligence and the Digital Economy Anthony Carbines declined to comment on whether the government would consider worker displacement legislation.
“Keeping a human in the loop is key to safe, ethical AI use across the Victorian economy,” he said.
“That’s why Labor is backing workers with free training to do their jobs with AI assistance, preparing Victorians for emerging roles like AI adoption, prompt engineering and agent management.”
Carbines said AI is not a silver bullet to improve productivity and the state government would work with employers and unions to make sure it is adopted safely and ethically.
Last month the federal government published its Intergenerational Report, which looked at the looming impact of AI on the economy, productivity and jobs.
“Labour-market impacts of AI are not yet fully evident but are expected to be uneven,” the report says.
It says there is not yet evidence of significant labour market effects from AI in Australia, but it urges against developing a sense of complacency.
Luke Hilakari, secretary of the Victorian Trades Hall Council, said the changes being wrought by AI are the largest transformation in Australia’s workforce since computerisation, but governments do not have a handle on the issue.
“Australia’s AI transition is being undermined by a failure to protect, utilise and enshrine worker voice,” he said. “While governments have long managed transitions resulting from economic restructuring, there is currently no comprehensive plan for dealing with AI-driven labour market disruption.”
Before looking to worker displacement legislation, Hilakari said, Australia needed a broader inquiry involving government, employers and unions to look at the opportunities and risks posed by AI, reach consensus on how artificial intelligence should be responsibly used in the workplace and look at how the government can respond to the needs of displaced workers.
“For workers, the impacts are already being felt,” he said. “Across many industries, jobs are being redesigned, automated or augmented through AI systems, often with limited consultation or planning.”
De Blasio also wants to see stringent rules for data centre development, with limits on water and energy use and substantial tax revenue going to municipalities from the centres, given the limited employment opportunities they create.
“Localities must require a strong, clear, actionable community benefits agreement before even considering permits to build data centres,” he will tell the Melbourne Assembly.
New York has placed a moratorium on new data centre development. The City of Melbourne recently voted against doing the same.
In any event, data centres are routinely deemed to be essential infrastructure, allowing them to bypass local planning laws despite community opposition in many areas of Melbourne.
Last month Premier Ben Carroll announced Labor would ban data centres near homes, while also introducing new power, water and community investment standards for developers. Critics are concerned the ban does not apply retrospectively to data that are already approved.
De Blasio believes governments around the world need to act swiftly to grapple with the impact of the rise of AI before it is too late.
“The absence of government policies and regulation related to AI all over the world is simply shocking and dangerous,” he will tell the Melbourne Assembly.