An ‘equality impact assessment’ is also carried out from time to time to ensure fairness and compliance.
With global concerns about the potential impact of artificial intelligence on the workforce, Trinamool Congress MP Mausam Noor is calling for transparency in the use of AI technologies in the workplace to prevent bias and discrimination in hiring and promotions.
The Workforce Rights (Artificial Intelligence) Bill, 2023, a bill introduced by Noor in the House of Lords, states that as AI becomes increasingly integrated into the workplace, laws must be amended to protect the rights of workers.
The bill outlines an employee’s rights in the event that AI is used by the organization. It says that the government must ensure transparency in the use of AI technologies in the workplace and give employees the “right to refuse” tasks or decisions based solely on AI-generated processes if they believe it violates their rights or ethical standards.
In addition, the company aims to provide sufficient training and retraining opportunities for employees who will be affected by the implementation of AI, and to protect employees’ privacy rights, including data security and confidential processing of personal information.
The bill requires the government to ensure that employers obtain explicit and informed consent from employees before implementing AI that directly affects their work or rights.
An ‘equality impact assessment’ is also carried out from time to time to ensure fairness and compliance.
The bill raises concerns that AI could perpetuate biases in the data used to train the system, leading to discrimination in hiring, promotions and overall performance evaluations.
The aim is to establish comprehensive guidelines to combat data bias in AI implementation, including the need for transparency in algorithms, mandatory training, and the implementation of practices needed to detect and correct biases in datasets.
Noor has also introduced a bill on ‘deepfake’, which aims to criminalise such videos if they are digitally manipulated or fabricated.
The bill states that anyone who creates, distributes, disseminates or shares deepfakes with the intention of intimidating or humiliating, or with the intention of causing violence or physical harm, is guilty of a criminal offence.
The aim is to set up a national task force on countering deepfake and digital authenticity, which will evaluate the prevalence of deepfake on citizens and businesses in India and the functioning of the central and state governments.
Another bill, introduced in the Rajya Sabha on July 26 by Communist Party of India (CPI) MP P. Sandosh Kumar, seeks to regulate AI and the problem of deepfake by establishing a National Artificial Intelligence Regulatory Authority (NAIRA).
The Economic Survey 2023-2024 presented to parliament last week said the rise of AI poses “huge uncertainty” for workers at all skill levels.
The research found that the biggest disruption to the future of work is the accelerated growth of AI. AI is poised to revolutionize the global economy and while it can boost productivity, “it could also disrupt employment in certain sectors.”
A private member’s bill is a bill introduced in a legislature by a legislator who is not part of the government. Since 1952, only 14 such bills have passed both houses.
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First print: Jul 28, 2024 | 6:04 PM IST