Private member’s bill listed in Rajya Sabha to ensure rights of workers in view of AI

New Delhi: Amid global concerns over how Artificial Intelligence may affect the workforce, Trinamool Congress MP Mausam Noor is batting for transparency in the use of AI technologies at the workplace to prevent biases, and discrimination in hiring, and promotions from taking place.

The Workforce Rights (Artificial Intelligence) Bill, 2023, a private member bill listed by Noor in the Upper House, says as AI becomes increasingly integrated into the workplace, laws must adapt to protect the workers’ rights.

The bill spells out the rights of an employee in case AI is being used by the organisation. It says the government must ensure transparency in the use of AI technologies within the workplace and give employees the ‘right to refuse’ tasks or decisions solely based on AI-generated processes if they feel it violates their rights or ethical standards.

It also seeks to provide adequate training and upskilling opportunities for employees affected by AI implementation, and protection of employee privacy rights, including data security and confidential handling of personal information.

The bill says the government must ensure that employers obtain explicit and informed consent from employees before implementing AI that directly affects their work or rights.

It also seeks an “equality impact assessment” from time to time to ensure fairness and compliance.

The bill expresses concern that AI has the potential to perpetuate biases in the data on which the system is trained, resulting in discrimination in hiring, promotions, and overall performance evaluations.

It seeks to lay down comprehensive guidelines to combat data bias in AI implementation, including the need for transparency in algorithms, mandatory training, and the adoption of practices needed to detect and rectify biases within datasets.

Noor has listed another bill on ‘deepfake,’ which seeks criminalisation of such videos which are digitally manipulated or fabricated.

The bill says that any person, who creates, distributes, disseminates or shares deepfakes with intent to harass, or humiliate, or with intent to cause violence or physical harm, shall be guilty of a criminal offence.

It seeks the formation of a National Deepfake Mitigation and Digital Authenticity Task Force, which will evaluate the prevalence of deepfake affecting the citizens, businesses in India and the functioning of the central and state government.

Another Private Member’s Bill, introduced in Rajya Sabha on July 26 by Communist Party of India (CPI) MP P Sandosh Kumar, seeks to regulate the AI and problem of deepfake by establishing a National Artificial Intelligence Regulatory Authority (NAIRA).

The Economic Survey 2023-24 tabled in Parliament last week said the advent of AI casts a “huge pall of uncertainty” on the fate of workers across all skill levels.

The survey noted that the biggest disruption for the future of work is the accelerated growth in AI, which is poised to revolutionise the global economy, and while it has the potential for boosting productivity, it “also has the potential to disrupt employment in certain sectors.”

A private member’s bill is a bill introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not a part of the government. Only 14 such bills have been passed by both Houses since 1952.