Over the years, AI technology has become deeply ingrained in labor industry issues as workers petition against its advent amid the increasingly technological society.
While labor movements are nothing new, the rise of union actions against the technology presents a growing trend on how generative AI affects workers and various labor industries.
Layoffs to AIs
One major concern among many people is the AI's threat to their livelihoods as automated machines replace positions that used to be given to human workers.
The surge in layoffs in 2023 and this year has only amplified people's fears that companies may soon make more roles inaccessible as they reallocate funding toward generative AI applications.
These were among the issues raised during last year's WGA and SAG-AFTRA labor strikes that have since been echoed throughout several labor movements across various fields and industries.
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Fair Wage
With AI putting people's positions at risk, there is also the chance that it could be used to pay people lower wages, an issue that continues to affect the population as the inflation rate continues to surge.
This is due to how the technology supposedly reduces labor costs, making it an attractive outlook for many companies seeking to save more.
There might also be instances of people knowledgeable with generative AI earning more than their contemporaries as companies invest more towards the technology's development, hindering many job opportunities in the process.
Personal Safety
Livelihood is not the only aspect of people's lives that AI has affected as it continues to become part of many worker's jobs.
For people marketing their likeliness, the AI's threat is magnified as not that it could only be used by companies without paying them, it could also be exploited by malicious actors that could able to access such important data.
