Labor Caucus Co-Chairs Outline Pro Worker Standards in AI Regulation

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, Labor Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Steven Horsford (NV-04), Donald Norcross (NJ-01), and Mark Pocan (WI-02) wrote a letter urging the House Democratic Commission on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and The Innovation Economy to implement pro worker policy and strong labor standards in AI regulation.

“As the champions of working families, Democrats must take an active leadership role putting in place the AI guardrails the American public needs and demand,” wrote the lawmakers. “At the heart of our policy must be efforts to strengthen labor rights and workers’ access to collective bargaining to prevent the use of AI as a weapon to undermine worker power. We must also center workers throughout the process from AI research and development, to the development and implementation of workforce training programs, to the responsible end use of AI.”

“Protecting workers must be a central tenet of developing federal AI policies,” continued the lawmakers. “Which is why, at this critical moment, Democrats must present a unified and coherent vision for innovation that uplifts workers and does not capitulate to industry efforts to pass light-touch regulation. As such, a comprehensive approach must also include transparency and accountability for AI use, strong restrictions to support copyright and intellectual property protections, clear protections against harmful applications of AI in the workplace, and prohibitions on uses that infringe on civil rights and undermine the integrity of our democracy.”

“As Democrats, we must show that we are working hard to stand up for Americans who believe AI must be used responsibly to strengthen our economy, empower workers and improve the quality of life in our communities, not undermine good jobs, degrade the quality of our services, and erode our democracy,” concluded the lawmakers.

A full copy of the letter can be found here.