New Podcast Tackles AI's Impact on Labor
Planet Classroom has launched a new podcast episode featuring UN Ambassador Shea Gopaul on the future of decent work in the age of artificial intelligence. The episode explores how AI is already impacting jobs and what measures are needed to ensure fairness and opportunity.
- Shea Gopaul, the podcast guest, is the UN Permanent Representative for the International Organisation of Employers (IOE), which represents 50 million companies in over 150 countries. She also founded the Global Apprenticeship Network (GAN), a business-led coalition addressing skills mismatch and youth unemployment. - The European Union's AI Act, which came into force in August 2024, will have a significant impact on employers using AI for recruitment, performance evaluation, and other HR functions. The act has extra-territorial reach, affecting any company whose AI systems are used within the EU. - A key provision of the EU AI Act for employers is the prohibition of AI systems used to infer emotions in the workplace, subject to limited exceptions. Additionally, AI tools used in HR, such as CV screeners, are classified as "high-risk," imposing strict obligations on both the AI providers and the employers who deploy them. - The International Labour Organization (ILO), a UN agency, is actively studying the impact of generative AI on both the quantity and quality of jobs, emphasizing that the technology will augment many tasks rather than eliminate entire occupations. Their research highlights that women are more susceptible to the automation effects of AI due to their overrepresentation in highly exposed administrative roles. - A joint report by the United Nations and the ILO warns of a growing "AI divide," where disparities in digital infrastructure and skills could deepen existing inequalities between and within countries. In the podcast, Ambassador Gopaul notes that 35% of the world's population lacks internet access, a fundamental barrier to benefiting from AI. - In the European public sector, AI adoption is growing, with 27% of local governments having implemented AI solutions to automate tasks, use predictive analytics, and inform decision-making. Examples include Denmark's "Muni" chatbot for local services and Estonia's "Kratt" framework, a single conversational interface for various AI-powered public services. - The use of AI in academic and scientific research funding is a rapidly emerging field, with potential applications in augmenting proposal evaluation, reducing systemic bias, and enhancing transparency. Several UK research funders, including UKRI and Wellcome, have issued joint statements on the use of generative AI in funding applications.
