FSU calls on Govt to monitor AI use, job loss moratorium within big banks

The Financial Services Union (FSU) has urged the Federal Government to take a more active role in monitoring the big four banks’ and other major FSIs’ use of artificial intelligence (AI), calling for new legislation to protect workers against potential discrimination and biases arising from the technology.

FSU national assistant secretary Nicole McPherson called on the policymakers to legislate protections for workers in large organisations, including the big four banks, to ensure they are not adversely affected by AI, noting its potential to exacerbate gender pay gaps and limit promotion opportunities for minority workers.

AI, moreover, poses a direct threat to key jobs in the financial services sector, she said, with many major employers “being sold on AI programs for the purposes of cost-cutting and eliminating vital jobs”.

McPherson called for a three-year moratorium on job cuts resulting from AI, allowing employers to “identify at-risk roles and reskill impacted workers”.

“Importantly,” McPherson wrote in a statement, “legislation must be adopted to ensure that the productivity and capacity gains from the introduction of AI is shared with workers through measures like pay increases or shorter working weeks.”

Speaking at the House of Representative Committee today, McPherson also called for reforms to the Fair Work Act “to ensure that where AI decision-making is used in processes described in the Act, that employers remain responsible. This should also include the right to an explanation based on the European model”.

The FSU also expressed concerns about the use of AI in the surveillance and management of workers and for the potential of job losses due to AI in the finance industry and beyond.

“The concerns we have with this level of surveillance is that… our members aren’t being told what kind of surveillance is taking place and what that information is being used for.

“These [AI] technologies are now able to parse enormous amounts of this data in very efficient ways and draw conclusions. That’s where our concern comes in.

“When this data is analysed and a decision is made that a worker, for example, is not being sufficiently productive and those allegations are put to the worker without any human oversight, that’s the concern we have.”

The peak representative body for Australian financial services sector employees also called for productivity benefits or capacity gains from AI to be shared with employees, “through pay increases or shorter working weeks”, and for this to be codified in regulation.

Acknowledging the rapidly expanding use cases for AI in financial services – including in areas of compliance, lending, customer service and account management, claims management, staff management and investments – McPherson expressed concerns over the “lack of transparency from employers about how the technology is being used”.

She concluded: “The FSU believes the use of AI should be fairly regulated for its benefits to be shared with workers, and there must be a higher obligation on employers to educate workers and provide transparency about what systems are being used, and in which ways.”

“The Finance Sector Union believes that there is a role for AI in our sector, but that all use of AI must be fair, transparent and regulated.”