Artificial intelligence, robots, and other advanced technologies are already transforming
the world of work -- and their impact is just beginning. They’ll grow the economy and
make it more efficient, but unless American workers are involved, that growth and technological
change will benefit only those at the top.
The challenge of making economic growth and technological change benefit all working people
and not just those at the top. It's the same challenge I’ve written about and talked a lot about over the years.
It’s the challenge of reversing widening inequalities of income, wealth, and political power.
A big part of the solution is making sure workers have a voice and a union.
That way they have more bargaining leverage to get a piece of the
pie that in recent years has been going almost entirely to the top.
We shouldn’t think of emerging technologies as things we have no control over -- as if
they just happen automatically, inevitably. We have power to shape technological progress.
We need to assert our roles as workers and members of a democratic society to ensure
that new technologies benefit all of us.
Now here are five ways to do so: First, workers need a stronger voice, from
the boardroom to the shop floor. Workers at all levels should participate in the design,
development, and deployment of technology in the workplace -- as they do in Germany.
This is not only good for workers. It’s also good for companies that otherwise waste
countless dollars trying to figure out how best to use new technologies without consulting
frontline workers who are closest to processes and products and would know how to get maximum
use out of the new technologies. In the early 2000s, Home Depot spent over $1 billion on
automation but reduced investment in their workforce. In the end, because workers were
left out of the process, many of these automated systems failed and had to be scaled back.
Second, if we want corporations to invest in innovation and their workers we need to
reform Wall Street. So instead of buying back their own shares of stock to manipulate stock
prices and laying off employees to boost short-term profits, corporations can make the long-term
investments that are necessary for their competitiveness
and for the competitiveness of their workers. Every corporation can get access to the same gadgets.
What makes a corporation uniquely competitive is its people.
Third, we need to rebuild strong collaboration
between government and business in researching and developing new technologies, so they work
for the benefit of all. That’s what we did in the three decades after World War II, when
the Defense Department worked with the private sector to develop the Internet, telecommunications,
and aerospace; when the National Institutes of Health did basic research for pharmaceuticals
and medical breakthroughs; and when our national laboratories pioneered research on biofuel,
nuclear, wind and solar energy. Conservatives often object that it’s not
the role of government to steer a technological development. Yet, most of the cutting-edge
technology that’s the crowning achievement of the United States’ private sector was
in fact developed as a result of public innovation and public funding. Our government is still
steering economic and technological development. We already have an industrial policy when
the government bails out Wall Street banks, give special tax breaks to oil, and hands
out subsidies to Big agriculture. But, it’s a backwards industrial policy, led by powerful
industry lobbyists. But we have the capacity to steer economic development in order to generate broad-based
prosperity, not just jaw-dropping incomes for a few innovators and investors.
Fourth, a more open and forward-looking industrial
policy can help steer the nation’s economic growth toward combating our central challenges
-- climate change, poverty, our crumbling infrastructure, costly and inaccessible health care,
and lack of quality education. Tackling big, ambitious goals like transitioning to
clean energy can encourage collaboration between different sectors of the economy. Backed by
the right technologies, they can also be sources of the good jobs of the future. We need, in
other words, a forward-looking industrial policy that develops the industries and jobs
of the future, and does so openly, in ways that benefit working people and society.
Finally, we need to assure that our workers are protected from the downsides -- that new
information technologies along with their increasing potential for monitoring and surveilling
workers don’t undermine worker autonomy, dignity, and privacy. That the use of algorithms
to manage workers doesn’t give top management unwarranted power in the workplace. Or that
workplace technologies don’t make work more unpredictable. Workers need some control
over how these technologies and the data they produce are used. And for this they need strong unions.
New technologies advancing toward our workplace
shouldn’t reduce the standard of living of Americans. They should raise our standard of living.
But that won’t happen automatically. Workers need a voice. Government needs a responsible role.
We deserve a forward-looking and open industrial policy. And the rules of the game need to be fair.
We should all be able to steer the the direction of technological change and influence
how new technologies affect our lives.
What do you think? How do we ensure that the future of work will benefit all Americans?
Let us know in the comments.
If you found this video informative,
please also watch our video on Everything You Need to Know About the New Economy.
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