Including Workers in Technology Development
Issues in Science and Technology
An award-winning journal devoted to the best ideas and writing on policy related to science, technology, and society.
Over the past several years, high-profile unionization efforts have succeeded in workplaces including Starbucks and Amazon. Labor unions have won or negotiated new contracts with auto manufacturers, Hollywood studios, UPS, and, most recently, Boeing. Polling finds that public support for unions is at its highest point in half a century.
This labor resurgence is occurring just as technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, and other forms of automation are poised to dramatically change the workplace. Not only does this mean that workers should have a say in the implementation of these technologies, write Amanda Ballantyne , Jodi Forlizzi , and Crystal W. , but centering workers in tech development can also improve the technologies themselves.
Since “workers are often best positioned to identify potential risks, practical limitations, and unintended consequences of a technology in real workplace settings,” Ballantyne and her coauthors argue, “workers’ voices are a crucial resource for making innovative technologies trusted and effective, so their full benefits can be realized for society.”