The Trade Unions Congress has drafted a proposed “Artificial Intelligence (Regulation and Employment Rights) Bill”, with the objective of UK AI regulation by employers. The main aim of the Bill is to protect employees, workers, and jobseekers and their rights and interests in the workplace.
Read on to find out more about this UK AI regulation, including the contents of the Bill and its potential implications on employment rights going forward.
What Is the TUC AI Regulation Bill?
Over the past 10 months, the TUC has been collaborating with the AI Law consultancy at Cloisters Chambers and Cambridge University to produce the Artificial Intelligence (Regulation and Employment Rights) Bill.
This is the first attempt at UK AI regulation and its key aim is to protect the rights of employees, workers, and jobseekers from specific uses and potential effects of artificial intelligence. At this stage, of course, the Bill has not been (and may never be) enacted into UK law; however, this is a possibility in the future.
The Bill predominantly relates to employers’ deployment of artificial intelligence systems for high-risk decision-making. In the context of the Bill, “decision-making” relates to decisions made by an employer about employees, workers, or job seekers that have been taken or supported by an AI system.
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“High-risk decision-making” refers to such decision-making which could potentially cause significant effects to the relevant employee, worker, or jobseeker, legal or otherwise.
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Key Provisions of the UK AI Regulation Bill
Employers will be under a duty to conduct a workplace AI risk assessment before using any AI systems for high-risk decision-making. This must encompass health and safety, human rights, equality, and data protection, and should include a direct consultation with the workforce. There will also be a requirement to establish and maintain a register of information about any artificial intelligence system used in high-risk decision-making.
The Bill contains a number of rights for employees, workers, and job seekers. These include entitlements to personalised explanations for high-risk decision-making which are or may result in detrimental decisions and to human reconsideration of such decisions. It will also introduce the right to disconnect, entitling employees, workers, and jobseekers to truly switch off outside work hours.
A number of prohibitions and principles also apply under the Bill. Employers may not use emotion recognition technology in high-risk decision-making which may be detrimental to employees, workers, and job seekers. There will be provisions relating to discriminatory consequences of using artificial intelligence systems in high-risk decision-making.
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This would help in absolving employees from liability and imposing auditing requirements on employers to avoid liability in this regard. Moreover, it will be automatically unfair to dismiss an employee or worker because of unfair reliance on high-risk decision-making, or because they have exercised their right to disconnect.
How Does this UK AI Regulation Compare to the EU AI Act?
Perhaps unsurprisingly, there are distinct similarities between the TUC’s new Bill and the provisions of the EU AI Act which has recently been adopted by the European Parliament. The two use similar concepts and terminology and impose comparable prohibitions to an extent.
However, whereas the proposed UK AI regulation focuses on the use of artificial intelligence systems by employers in specific situations, the EU AI Act is far broader, encompassing the manufacture and deployment of AI across various sectors, categorising AI systems into four risk levels, and facilitating the imposition of substantial financial penalties for non-compliance.
What Are the Potential Implications of UK AI Regulation?
This new form of UK AI regulation appears to implement numerous principles valued by many employees across the country. These include transparency and explainability by employers and equality of employees, as well as the practice of consultation in the workplace.
According to research conducted by YouGov on behalf of the TUC, 69% of employees in the UK feel that employers should be required to conduct a consultation with staff before introducing new artificial intelligence systems in the workplace. Although employees across Britain may welcome such UK AI regulation, what are its potential implications on UK employment rights?
Impact of the Bill on Employment Rights
Many are concerned about the use of artificial intelligence systems for high-risk decision-making. This is particularly regarding hiring and firing of employees as it may result in bias and even discrimination. Whilst the Equality Act is designed to protect employees in this regard, there are currently no provisions to address the use of artificial intelligence in such processes and the impact it may have.
The TUC’s new AI Bill strives to address this risk, making employers accountable for such decisions and requiring them to implement protective safeguards and to prove that AI systems are not discriminatory to avoid liability. However, some employees remain dubious about its success.
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Another risk relates to data protection and the use of employee personal data by artificial intelligence systems. It will be important for employers to ensure that the use of artificial intelligence for high-risk decision-making is in compliance with data protection legislation. Data protection policies and privacy notices should be amended to reflect the use of AI to ensure that employee data is being used lawfully.
Professor Gina Neff, executive director of the University of Cambridge’s Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy, is optimistic about the potential effects of UK AI regulation on employment rights. Speaking about the TUC’s suggested legislation, she says, “This bill would provide robust protections for employees and bring UK employment law into the AI era. It would prevent employers from making bad decisions with bad AI.”