AI is Too Important to Leave to Billionaires

Por Ian Lavery — Tribune

Artificial intelligence is about to change everything. The most pessimistic predictions foresee the end of humanity itself. The most optimistic imagine a future in which work becomes largely optional, with people free to spend more time with their families, communities and personal interests. The outcomes will likely fall somewhere between those extremes. Yet wherever you stand on that spectrum, one thing is clear: we are on the brink of a technological transformation that will fundamentally reshape our economy, society and workplaces. This is serious business, and it is something politicians must engage with fully. The deployment of artificial intelligence raises profound questions about power, wealth, work and democracy. Even setting aside the most dramatic warnings about existential risk, there are significant concerns about job displacement, the spread of scams and misinformation, increased surveillance, and the environmental costs associated with the infrastructure required to support these systems. At the same time, we should not approach AI simply as a threat. For generations, our movement has argued that the benefits of technological progress should be shared by the many rather than captured by the few. Trade unionists fought for the weekend, bank holidays, pensions and the eight-hour working day. Those victories were made possible by rising productivity combined with collective organisation. Artificial intelligence has the potential to drive productivity gains on a scale rarely seen before. The question is not whether those gains will exist, but who will benefit from them.History offers important lessons. The Luddites are often portrayed as opponents of technology itself. In reality, they were workers resisting a model of economic change that threatened their livelihoods while concentrating wealth and power in fewer hands. Their objection was not to innovation but to injustice. Today’s debate about artificial intelligence raises many of the same questions. Workers should not be expected to carry all of the risks while a small number of corporations and billionaires enjoy the rewards.If AI significantly increases productivity, those gains must translate into higher living standards for ordinary people. Higher wages, shorter working hours and stronger public services should be the benchmarks by which success is measured. Technological progress has little value if it leaves working people poorer, less secure and with less control over their lives. The arrival of artificial intelligence demands a new social settlement. If machines can increasingly perform tasks once undertaken by people, society must rethink not only how economic security is provided but also how purpose, dignity and fulfilment are sustained. Policies such as a shorter working week with no loss of pay, universal basic services, stronger collective bargaining rights and new forms of social protection should be central to that conversation. The goal should not be to preserve every existing job forever, but to ensure that everyone shares in the benefits of automation. The development and deployment of AI cannot be left solely to multinational technology companies and a handful of socially awkward billionaires. When some of the most influential figures in the technology sector struggle to answer basic questions about whether humanity’s future should take precedence over technological acceleration, it is clear that the decisions shaping our society cannot be left in their hands. How these systems are used in workplaces, schools, public services and government should be subject to democratic oversight. Workers and their representatives must have a meaningful voice in how AI is introduced, how data is collected and how decisions affecting employment and public services are made. Transparency, accountability and democratic control must be at the heart of the AI revolution. There is growing debate about whether there should be a pause in the expansion of the infrastructure required to embed AI more deeply into our lives. Taking time to consider the social, economic and environmental consequences of such a profound transformation is no bad thing. Yet while that debate continues, the major technology companies press ahead, embedding AI ever more deeply into everyday life with the active support of governments around the world.Behind every AI system sits a vast physical infrastructure that is largely invisible to the public. Data centres have become an essential part of modern life, supporting everything from online banking and video streaming to public services and cloud computing. The rapid growth of artificial intelligence is now driving unprecedented demand for digital infrastructure, with a growing number of data-centre developments proposed across the United Kingdom. In my own constituency, there are now three separate proposals for data centres within a relatively small geographical area. While these developments may bring investment and technological opportunities to the country as a whole, it is local communities that live with their consequences. Data centres require substantial amounts of electricity, water and land. People have legitimate questions about environmental impacts, pressure on energy networks, transport infrastructure and the use of valuable development sites. That is why I have called for a moratorium on future data centres so we can get this right. These concerns should not be dismissed as anti-technology sentiment. They are practical, reasonable questions about how growth is managed and who benefits from it. Rejecting data centres outright may be unrealistic. However, small pockets of industrial land cannot simply become the plug socket for Britain’s digital economy. Any development must deliver a clear public benefit. When people access online services, they have little idea where their data is being processed, and too often there appears to be no lasting advantage for the communities that host these facilities. If growth is being driven from their doorstep, those communities should see tangible returns. That could include a direct financial levy on operators, programmes that create skilled employment opportunities, investment in local energy networks and robust environmental safeguards. If local people are expected to shoulder the impacts of AI infrastructure, they should also share in its rewards. The AI revolution is not a future challenge. It is already underway. The choice facing us is not whether to embrace or oppose artificial intelligence. It is whether we allow this transformation to deepen existing inequalities or whether we shape it in the interests of working people. As with every major technological shift in history, the technology itself is only part of the story. The real questions are who owns it, who controls it and who benefits from it. If we fail to answer those questions, the answer will be provided for us by the tech billionaires who already hold the power.This piece forms part of a new pamphlet from the Socialist Campaign Group: The Socialst Policies We Need.

Fonte: Tribune