Outline

How can Workers Regain Freedom in an AI Era?

• Introduction
  • Amargi
  • Jubilee
  • American Society
  • AI era
• Problem - AI and Job Displacement
• Solutions
  • Expanding Unions Protections
  • Rethinking Careers & American “Amargi”
  • Preserving Human Work-Product and Thought: Role of Libraries
• Conclusion

How can Workers Regain Freedom in an AI Era?

With AI rising, a Harris Poll survey commissioned by the American Staffing Association reported that 28% of Americans worry about job losses, particularly among Gen Z workers. 40% of workers’ career choices and freedom are shaped by financial concerns driven by student loans and mortgages. Since ancient times, debt bondage has dictated human behavior and restricted “freedom.” In Mesopotamia, a practice of debt amnesty, in Sumerian “amargi”––meaning “freedom from debt” or literally “return to mother”––allowed indentured servants to return to their families. Similarly, the Biblical term “jubilee” accounted for periodic forgiveness of debts to restore balance within society. These ancient concepts can be seen in today’s American society, where debt is pervasive for many people, from students to workers. The modern “debt bondage” will likely worsen in the era of AI, which would increase profitability and likely deepen the structural inequities with job losses and lower wages. In that era, how can workers attain freedom from debt?

AI and Job Displacement

AI can replace human labor as it presents appealing opportunities for cost reduction to increase company profitability. The world is already witnessing this, from chatbots like ChatGPT? quickly supplanting customer service representatives to healthcare data entry. Even creative fields are not immune to the loss of human touch –– algorithms can now generate art (see Dataland), music, and even students’ AI-papers.

Proponents of AI argue it “will create at least 12 million more jobs than it destroys”; it can liberate workers trapped in repetitive jobs. Industries such as manufacturing, transportation, and retail place workers vulnerable to automation, requiring them to upskill and reskill. However, many of these jobs, even if routine, contribute to the dignity of today’s workers, which AI could take away instead of “liberating” workers. Perhaps that might be prevented by making Kant’s “dignity” an assumption of the machine… With the technology advancing rapidly, AI could potentially replace aspects of more complex jobs. However, such displacement might also not fully materialize, given AI’s “amorality, faux science and linguistic incompetence”, overgenerating with a mix of truths and falsehoods and undergenerating (noncommitment and “indifference to consequences”).

Considering potential AI’s impacts, workers might entirely lose some jobs or at least parts of their jobs, but their debt will remain and still constrain their freedom. Therefore, some solutions for restoring the freedom of workers along their path to debt repayment could include (1) increasing worker wages as they might upskill to leverage AI, (2) expanding union protections, (3) rethinking career paths in an AI economy & American “Amargi,” and (4) ensuring the superior quality of human work-product.

Some solutions appear inapplicable. While higher wages could be equitable, they will likely reduce corporate profitability, increasing company resistance.

Expanding Unions Protections

Unions and regulators must be better positioned to protect workers from AI. The current administration tried not to push aggressively for AI regulations that would attract the ire of companies while still being vocal in its support for the workforce.

In the federal government’s approach to strengthening union protections against AI, executive orders have been crucial. In 2023, President Biden issued a pro-union executive order regarding AI, instructing federal agencies to include labor unions in the decision-making. Interagency agreements are another critical component of the government’s initiatives, aiming to improve training, investigations, and information sharing. Additionally, the government relied on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), an agency seeking to regulate anti-union AI, such as automated management tools and electronic surveillance.

Even without federal or state-level regulation, some unions self-regulate with AI commissions and, similar to corporate entities, publish their own AI guidelines. Some also leverage collective bargaining to address AI, either incorporating new protections into contracts or changing the current language. For instance, after the expiration of labor contracts with Hollywood studios, the Writers Guild of America engaged in a five-month strike, prioritizing AI concerns. To expand AI protections, other unions could be encouraged to adopt such private initiatives. While Biden’s administration has recognized such efforts, there is a need for a more comprehensive regulatory framework driven by both public institutions and unions, which can match the technological acceleration. Unions’ initiatives can foster accountability, trust, and transparency, but at the same time, filling the federal void with actionable steps would harmonize agency requirements and enhance companies’ compliance. As AI grows rapidly, policymakers and unions should collaborate to find a balance between labor rights and AI innovations.

Rethinking Careers & American “Amargi”

Debt-free education, like for Columbia medical students, and debt forgiveness mechanisms, such as Biden’s partial cancellation or the PSLF, would give back some freedom to students. With that in mind, students might spend more time developing an entrepreneurial spirit to plan new practices disregarding AI concerns. They might embrace careers involving creativity levels that AI could never achieve. Additionally, choosing professions involving significant social or emotional aspects would reduce automation. For instance, teachers, professors, or therapists express empathy and develop close mentorship, which AI cannot replace.

Preserving Human Work-Product and Thought: Role of Libraries

Online readers leave a trail exploited by corporations for advertising and algorithmic training like Amazon and Google. Zuboff contends that software companies shape human behavior with data surveillance and erode our autonomy. Software has transformed human thought: While “machine reasoning is beyond human subjective experience and outside human understanding […], we already accept the veracity of most of their outputs."

Thus, restoring traditional libraries not only safeguards privacy but is essential to maintaining human thought and incentivizing better legal research and reliance on “scientific methods.” Studies have shown people retain better information while reading on paper than online. This would enhance students’ education and strengthen their output once in the workforce. Libraries are vital to improving intellectual autonomy without reliance on AI’s output and maintaining the quality of human work-product. Higher quality output might drive corporations’ profitability better than the cost reduction AI’s lower output could provide, potentially steering them away from job displacement and from "switching off" human thinking.

Conclusion

We “confront a choice—between the comfort of [independent humans] and the possibilities of an entirely new partnership between human and machine.” Perhaps the choice might be a partnership between independent humans and machines.

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