Posts tagged Artificial Intelligence
COMMENTARY: Will generative A.I. be good for U.S. workers?
August 10, 2023 // The implications of generative A.I. are complex. What is clear is that generative A.I. will fundamentally change the way many jobs are done. And we are optimistic that many of the jobs created will be highly skilled and well paid. To get there, though, the United States must invest in re-training and education to ensure that the workforce is prepared to succeed. On the lower end of the job market—those making less than $38,200 a year—automation and other structural changes have already had big effects. Generative A.I. could accelerate these trends, resulting in lower wage workers being 14 times more likely to need to shift occupations than high-wage workers. People without college degrees are almost twice as likely to face displacement.
Who’s on strike and who’s close? Labor unions are flexing
August 8, 2023 // Recent decades suggest there won’t be a strike at more than one at once. UAW (United Auto Workers) typically picks one “target” at which to focus negotiations and possibly strike and then demand that the other two unionized automakers agree to the same “pattern” deal. That one really has the chance to hurt the Democrats since the union is very upset about the auto industry plans to shift to EVs (electric vehicles). They see EVs as a jobs killer because of so many fewer parts – it takes about one-third fewer jobs to build an EV than an internal combustion engine (ICE) car. And many of the EV jobs are at battery plants being built nationwide right now, but which are joint ventures between the automakers and foreign battery companies, and thus not guaranteed to be unionized. Even if those battery plants end up with a union, it’s not clear the joint venture will agree to UAW-level wages. The one UAW-represented plant in Ohio pays roughly half of what workers are paid at an engine or transmission plant owned by one of the Big Three (US automakers) and represented by the UAW.
Summer of discontent: will US strikes spell trouble for ‘union guy’ Biden?
July 24, 2023 // On Thursday he was at the Philadelphia Shipyard in Pennsylvania to promote “Bidenomics”, a recently adopted slogan. The president said: “We have a plan that’s turning things around pretty quickly. ‘Bidenomics’ is just another way of saying ‘Restore the American Dream’.” But that message is still struggling to break through with voters. In a CNBC All-America Economic Survey released this week, 37% approve of Biden’s handling of the economy and 58% disapprove. In a Monmouth University poll, only three in 10 Americans feel the country is doing a better job recovering economically than the rest of the world since the pandemic. There is a baffling disconnect between these opinions and data that shows America defying predictions of recession and curbing price rises faster than other major economies. Inflation has fallen from 9% to 3% and is now at its lowest point in more than two years.
Biden pushes a strong role for unions in tech jobs, even as potential strikes are on the horizon
July 20, 2023 // Biden spent part of this week focused on efforts to expand unionization into new industries. On Monday, he met with younger workers trying to unionize at Starbucks, minor league baseball, bus-maker Blue Bird and Sega. Labor Department data shows that workers younger than age 35 are much less likely to belong to a union than their older peers, meaning that the future of the union movement might depend on bringing in younger generations. Unions also aided Biden’s election victory over President Donald Trump in 2020. Just 16% of voters in 2020 lived in a union household. But 56% of people in union households backed Biden for president against Trump, a Republican, according to AP VoteCast. Union votes generally matter more in Northern states with an industrial legacy such as Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, key states for a Democrat seeking to win the electoral college. But there are few union votes in sunbelt states such as Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina, where Biden hopes to compete in 2024 and where many of the investments in new computer chip and battery plants are being made.
Hollywood studios racing to avoid actors’ strike at midnight
July 12, 2023 //
Workers Plan to Quit But They Will Have to Compete With AI for New Jobs
July 11, 2023 // Company leaders should also prepare themselves and their workforce for the future. A third of employees feel their company won’t be economically viable in 10 years on the current course — consistent with the 39 per cent of CEOs who responded similarly earlier this year to PwC’s Global CEO Survey. Leaders must reorganize to uplift their employees, either by increasing wages or providing training to strengthen skills that AI can’t replicate.
SAG-AFTRA and Producers Agree to Two-Week Contract Extension for Continued Negotiations
July 5, 2023 // “While it seems like a lot of SAG members want to join the WGA, at the end of the day, most want to continue to work,” Theresa Stevenson, an arbitrator in Michigan who has helped settled union disputes and strikes in the past, told the Globe. “While this does affect A-list stars, it also affects so many more smaller actors and bit parts and commercial work and so many others. The majority with the SAG card simply can’t afford a strike and just want to work to live or, in some cases, have supplementary income.” “SAG knows this, and that’s why negotiations are continuing. Most members really do just want a deal and don’t want to dig in for a strike lasting months like the WGA. They go on strike, then LA and other big acting towns are going to see a flood of new applicants going on the job market for temp or part-time work, and that means economic disruption, especially when, after the theoretical strike is over, they all pull out. We see this happen in many entertainment and non-entertainment related strikes, and LA and California really doesn’t need more economic uncertainty right now.”
TECH UNIONS ON THE RISE: HOW AI IS INFLUENCING LABOR DYNAMICS
June 22, 2023 // The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is carefully watching the potential impact of AI on jobs. Despite the pervasive fear that AI could decimate many industries, the experts at BLS approach this potential threat with cautious optimism. They point out that previous predictions about technology wiping out industries have often failed. New technologies take longer than anticipated to impact job markets if they do at all significantly. Simultaneously, we’re witnessing a rise in unionization across tech companies. Traditionally, the tech industry has resisted unions, seen as relics of a bygone era. Yet, the wave of organizing overcame this resistance, breaking decades-old barriers.
Hollywood directors reach labor pact, writers remain on strike
June 5, 2023 //
‘Those who hate AI are insecure’: inside Hollywood’s battle over artificial intelligence
May 26, 2023 // “It’s so disruptive, it’s kind of like being afraid of the automobile, or, ‘Oh my God, we shouldn’t go to the moon,’” he said. What went unanswered in the panel discussion was how many of Hollywood’s technical workers, from set designers to hairstylists, would be able to translate their skills into a more virtual film world – and how many might simply be laid off. All these tensions were on display last week when tech companies that specialise in AI, including Dell, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise and Nvidia, were among the sponsors of an “AI on the Lot” conference in Hollywood, which attracted an estimated 400 people to overflowing sessions about how artificial intelligence was disrupting every facet of film production. One tech investor described the mood as both high energy and high anxiety.