AI Principles Promoting Workers’ Wellbeing: A White House Fact Sheet

On May 16, 2024 the Biden-Harris Administration released a set of 8 principles to guide the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace. These principles were created by the Department of Labor under President Biden’s Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence with a focus on workers rights and wellbeing. The White House released a Fact Sheet with the following summary of the eight principles:

• Centering Worker Empowerment: Workers and their representatives, especially those from underserved 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.

It is important to note that the Biden-Harris Administration views these principles as general guidance and not all encompassing. The White House Fact Sheet states, “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.” Businesses are encouraged to use the principles as the basis for their own AI policies centered on the rights and wellbeing of all stakeholders.

As organizations draft their own policies for AI development and use, it is important that all stakeholders are given the opportunity to express their ideas and concerns. At Red Flag Reporting, we believe that organizations are at their best when transparency and open communication is the norm. We are proud to help make this a reality for organizations across industries as AI brings about new opportunities for all.