Department of Labor Creates Principles For Developers and Employers When Using AI in the Workplace

May 22, 2024

The Department of Labor (DOL) announced last week Principles for Developers and Employers when using AI in the workplace. These Principles, which are a directive from President Biden’s Oct. 30, 2023,  Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence, will “create a roadmap for developers and employers on how to harness AI technologies for their businesses while ensuring workers benefit from new opportunities created by AI and are protected from its potential harms.”

The Department’s AI Principles for Developers and Employers include:

• [North Star] Centering Worker Empowerment: Workers and their representatives, especially those from underserved communities, should be informed of and have genuine input in the design, development, testing, training, use, and oversight of AI systems for use in the workplace.
• Ethically Developing AI: AI systems should be designed, developed, and trained in a way that protects workers.
• Establishing AI Governance and Human Oversight: Organizations should have clear governance systems, procedures, human oversight, and evaluation processes for AI systems for use in the workplace.
• Ensuring Transparency in AI Use: Employers should be transparent with workers and job seekers about the AI systems that are being used in the workplace.
• Protecting Labor and Employment Rights: AI systems should not violate or undermine workers’ right to organize, health and safety rights, wage and hour rights, and anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation protections.
• Using AI to Enable Workers: AI systems should assist, complement, and enable workers, and improve job quality.
• Supporting Workers Impacted by AI: Employers should support or upskill workers during job transitions related to AI.
• Ensuring Responsible Use of Worker Data: Workers’ data collected, used, or created by AI systems should be limited in scope and location, used only to support legitimate business aims, and protected and handled responsibly.

To view the DOL announcement, click here. To view the fact sheet from the Biden-Harris Administration, click here.