The Biden-Harris Administration has announced principles aimed at protecting workers and ensuring they share in the anticipated gains from artificial intelligence (AI) technology. The May 16 announcement includes news that technology companies Microsoft and Indeed have committed to adopting these principles as appropriate to their workplace.

In October 2023, President Biden issued an Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence, and directed the Department of Labor to establish a set of key principles concerning the development and deployment of AI systems in the workplace. 

The principles have now been determined, and include:

Centering Worker Empowerment. Workers and their representatives, especially those from under-served 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.

The Administration said these principles should be considered during the whole lifecycle of AI – from design to development, testing, training, deployment and use, oversight, and auditing. The principles are applicable to all sectors and intended to be mutually reinforcing, though not all principles will apply to the same extent in every industry or workplace. 

The principles are not intended to be an exhaustive list but instead a guiding framework for businesses. 

AI developers and employers should review and customize the best practices based on their own context and with input from workers. The Administration added that it welcomes additional commitments from other technology companies who wish to adopt these principles.