“AI is transforming the world of work, changing how value is created and how decisions are made, at speed and at scale,” said Gilbert Houngbo, the head of the UN’s International Labour Organization.
“Workers everywhere must be able to share the productivity gains generated by AI. Those gains must be distributed fairly through better wages, stronger labour protections, and more inclusive growth,” he told the annual International Labour Conference, which sets the ILO’s broad policies.
The most prominent figures in AI are stepping back from dire predictions about mass unemployment, as the industry faces growing public hostility over AI’s promised transformation of the workplace.
Most economic institutions, including the European Central Bank, say that AI has had only minor effects on employment so far.
While AI technology is booming, ILO director-general Houngbo said that “the future of work will not be determined by technology alone, but by the policies, the institutions and the social dialogue that guide it.
“The choices we make today will determine whether AI broadens opportunity and shared prosperity or deepens inequality and insecurity,” the former prime minister of Togo said.
The choices available include investing in skills, strengthening labour and social protection, supporting micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and upholding fundamental principles and rights at work, said Houngbo.
“This is ultimately a social and political choice about the future we want,” he said.
The ILO is unique in the UN system in that its 187 member states are equally represented by governments, employers and workers.
Those representatives are meeting at the UN’s Geneva headquarters from June 1 to 12 to discuss issues related to the world of work.
ILO members hope, in particular, to finalise negotiations on a new international treaty for workers on digital platforms.
This is “an important step in responding to new forms of work and closing gaps in terms of protection and innovation”, said Houngbo.
Although they largely control tasks and pay, the platforms classify such workers as independent contractors rather than employees – a designation that allows them to bypass requirements related to minimum wages, workplace safety and access to social security, according to the NGO Human Rights Watch.