IFOW October 2024 Newsletter | The View From IFOW

This is a shortened version of our full monthly newsletter giving a roundup of the most important news around the Future of Work. For the full version, please subscribe on our website.

With Party conference season this has been a busy month, with an unexpectedly international dimension. Professor Sir Christopher Pissarides was invited, in his capacity as IFOW Co-Founder, to share our latest research at the Ambassador’s residence in Brussels, indicating higher levels of engagement and knowledge-sharing with our European allies. (Behind the scenes, the Prime Minister has been fast to lay the ground for the UK’s new relationship with the EU.) Today, we?published Chris’ lecture here. We have also been?virtual guests this week at?the annual MIT Technology Review conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts after contributing to their UK debut.?

Back home, Anna and IFOW Co-Chair Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE enjoyed participating in some thoughtful and spirited fringe events in Liverpool - from growth to surveillance - at the first Conference that Labour has had in power for 15 years.?

Hidden from sight - and contrary to media attention on teething problems and schoolboy errors - we’re happy to report a quiet confidence and sense of shared purpose, with a healthy balance of listening and reflecting.?

A strategic shift to joined-up, mission-driven government is a real challenge – and it’s easy to forget that the UK doesn’t have a post-election transition period, unlike the US. New institutions, rules, tools, ways of working and policymaking are a must. Some things need a staged approach, others need experimentation. And as our recent three days of policy workshops earlier this month - using our Social Policy Innovation Accelerator -?have highlighted, many are about building capabilities and setting up things up for the future.?

On that note, the IFOW Responsible AI Sandbox has attracted a huge amount of attention. This is your last chance to apply as we head into autumn—a season of transition—making it the perfect time to explore and innovate in the evolving landscape of responsible AI.?Applications close on the 8th of October.

Anna?and the IFOW team?

Deep Dive -?Software as Dis-service? How should data governance adapt?

In a?new blog post, IFOW Co-Director, Dr Abby Gilbert, examines a major shift in privacy and data protection and governance: from concerns focused on data about people to a focus on the data that is being collected about work: industrial data?

This is classed as ‘non-personal data’ – isn’t data that concerns details such as home address, credit card numbers or impinges on intellectual property, which is a common issue in creative industries). Instead, this is data about people’s work methods, screen activity, or how they go about a manufacturing process.?

Industrial data can be collected by Connected Worker or Software-as-a-Service platforms – but then these huge caches are then off-shored to data centres outside of the UK.?

This presents several challenges that are likely to be relevant to the data and AI Bills expected later this autumn. It also highlights the way that different types of ‘surveillance’ are entry points to a number of other important decisions about technology, work design and business models. Data on work methods can be used to train automation systems that will then replace workers, and the offshoring of data presents risks to both companies and to national interests. Read the full piece here, and how IFOW’s work in our Responsible AI Sandbox can help firms navigate this complex new data and AI governance landscape.

Interesting reads/listens

The Role of Data Rights in Worker Empowerment???

This new paper "What Do Data Rights Do for Workers?" critiques narrow approaches to data rights in the context of the ‘datafication of work’. Based on an analysis of trade union documentation and interviews with 15 trade unions, the report highlights ?the drive for ‘data rights’ in the context of the labour movement; and the need for enabling conditions and promotive workplace democracy for the rights to be meaningful

The Importance of Trust in AI-Powered Futures of Work?

This Fast Company article offers a personal perspective on the critical role of trust as AI becomes increasingly integrated into daily operations, highlighting that Trust in the context of work has a significant impact on the health of individuals, organizations, and society. As AI systems take on more responsibilities, organisations must ensure that employees trust these technologies to foster a collaborative environment, as a survey by IFOW highlighted.?

Why bigger isn’t always better in AI?

Smaller models are proving to be equally capable—with a far smaller carbon footprint.

Events

Living Standards in Later Life (Thursday, 10 October 2024, 9:30 AM – 10:45 AM, London and online)?

Hosted by The Resolution Foundation, Living Standards in Later Life will address whether auto-enrolment in pensions is sufficient for ensuring adequate retirement savings.

Register here.?

The Alan Turing Lectures – Can We Trust AI? (Monday, 14 October 2024, 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM, Knowledge Quarter & online)?

For the October edition of The Alan Turing Lectures, Dr. Abeba Birhane will outline the challenges of building trust in AI, the biases in AI systems, how they influence decision-making, and the societal impact.

Get your tickets here.

Manchester Science Festival (Friday, 18?October 2024 – Sunday, 27 October, 2024 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM, Manchester)?

Our brilliant co-chair, Anne-Marie Imafidon, will be speaking to Libby Jackson OBE from the UK Space Agency on the 18th. They’ll be discussing AI’s role in space exploration. You can even pre-order an AI-crafted cocktail when you get your tickets. Find tickets here.?