AFSCME puts AI on the legislative agenda

Since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in 2022, artificial intelligence has ballooned into an industry worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Now, from commercials to social media feeds to the top of every Google search, it seems like AI is everywhere. 

The billionaires and large corporations behind the AI boom are all in on the technology, selling it to both public and private sector organizations on the promise of AI’s ability to “improve efficiency” through automating millions of jobs and replacing human workers with chatbots. 

That’s in spite of the fact that many deployments of AI in the public sector have been disasters—like New York City’s small-business chatbot, which told business owners that it’s legal to fire a worker who complains about sexual harassment.

As the humans providing vital public services to Illinois residents every day, AFSCME members understand the threat that AI poses to our livelihoods and those dependent on the services we provide. 

That’s why delegates to the recent AFSCME Council 31 Biennial Convention unanimously adopted a resolution that commits our union to work to prevent AI from displacing workers and degrading public services.

Council 31 has developed a bill in the General Assembly meant to ensure that AFSCME members’ work can’t be replaced by AI, and any AI-generated output is subject to strict human oversight and control.

Council 31 is also researching the potential impact of AI in union members’ workplaces, and working to establish trainings for staff and members on how to approach the issue at the bargaining table and in labor-management meetings.

“We’re all hearing how ‘amazing’ AI is going to be for society, but we unionists know that the implementation of artificial intelligence will only be positive if we fight to ensure that it is used to help workers, not to make their jobs harder, less safe, or non-existent,” said Council 31 Regional Director Dave Beck, who also served on the State of Illinois’ AI Task Force. “Our members should be on guard against the use of AI in our workplaces and let our local leadership know if management tries to introduce it.”

It’s all too likely that the billionaires and tech CEOs will fight tooth and nail against the AI regulations that AFSCME is supporting. But together we can make sure that strong public services remain in the hands of committed human beings.