International Round Table "The role of Eurasian Trade Unions and Public Organizations in Shaping the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation Protocols" - Outcomes

11/11/2022 15:05

On November 10, the Department of Sustainable Development of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly, together with the General Confederation of Trade Unions, held an International Round Table “The Role of Eurasian Trade Unions and Public Organizations in Shaping the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation Protocols” with the participation of leading experts in this field.

Since artificial intelligence has become commonplace, and not the hero of the works of science fiction writers, a lot of ethical discussions have flared up around this technology. Tech giants are introducing artificial intelligence into their developments, but they themselves continue to argue about whether such a developed mind will bring benefits to humanity or a lot of trouble. How to live in an era when the machine not only competes with man, but can simply replace him and literally deprive him of his job?

Current trends in addressing the ethical and legal aspects of AI and machine learning are focused on setting the framework for a just transition to an artificial intelligence (AI) economy, autonomy and responsibility. The ongoing digital revolution (transition to Industry 4.0 and Enterprise 4.0) needs to be assessed not only in terms of economic benefits and opportunities, but also in terms of the socio-cultural impact it has on people. At the same time, it should be noted that this issue is one of the most difficult due to its insufficient elaboration.

Assembly Secretary General Andrey Belyaninov drew the attention of experts to the fact that a multilateral and interethnic discussion would make it possible to formulate common approaches and increase the efficiency of decision-making. Marco Riccieri, Secretary General of the EURISPES Institute for Economic, Social and Political Studies, drew the attention of the participants to the fact that Russia is one of the leading countries in the field of decision-making on the regulation of the use of AI, which should certainly be considered in future work.

AI opens up new opportunities to improve the quality of working life, increase choice, narrow the gender gap, but also new challenges - overcoming the harm caused by inequality in the world, and solving many other problems. Realizing the magnitude of the tasks, the participants discussed a wide range of issues related to responding to these challenges: the development of policies, standards and investment strategies in relation to the formation of new labor markets; issues of regular and systematic testing of datasets for bias and discrimination and possible countermeasures to ensure fairness; retraining and professional development of key employees; the possibility of combining the efforts of trade unions and public organizations to form common standards and assess qualifications on the Eurasian continent, as well as launch specialized training programs. In this regard, the speech of Mikhail Khazin, one of the most respected Russian experts, drew the attention of the participants to the problems of the middle class arising from the introduction of AI, the threat of mass unemployment and the role of trade unions in preventing negative scenarios.

The moderation of the round table by Deputy Secretary General Yulia Petrova made it possible to exchange views within a professional discussion and clarify the position of the participants on all the issues raised. Of particular interest were the reports of the Middle East partners of the Assembly by Senator of the Jordanian Parliament Nydal Katamine, Professor of Cairo University Nur Nada, Advisor to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs of Jordan, Senior Specialist of the UN Development Program and Head of the Jordanian Office of ANE Tual Salama, as they presented not only national solutions, but balanced and reasonable a look at the issues raised from the point of view of unifying Eurasian processes.

The General Confederation of Trade Unions, represented by Alexandra Balenko, Head of the Department for the Protection of the Social and Economic Interests of Workers, has long and fruitfully explored the threats of digital transformation to the social rights and working conditions of workers. She noted the shortcomings of the existing legal systems governing labor issues on digital platforms, which often go beyond national jurisdiction, prompted participants to constructively discuss the need to create international working groups to develop real solutions.

Of course, in the context of the transition to digital economies, the issues of education, retraining and advanced training could not be left aside. These issues are being worked on both by International Organizations such as the UN University for Peace, represented by Enea Franz, Vice President of its division in Rome, and national leaders in IT education, such as IT HUB, represented by Svetlana Morokhova, who is also the Director of the International Association of Certification Specialists. As part of her speech, Svetlana Morokhova made a number of specific proposals to partners from Europe and the Middle East to share experience and provide support in training IT specialists.

Summing up the results, Yulia Petrova proposed to create a permanent platform with the participation of experts, organized on a rotational basis in the AHE partner countries, which was supported by all participants of the round table.

Program of the Round table (PDF)

Below you can find the submitted reports and presentations.

On the impact of digital transformation on the labor market. Balenko A.G., Head of the Department for the Protection of Social and Economic Rights of Workers of the General Confederation of Trade Unions (PDF)

«Data collection and management».Report by Lysenko K. E., Deputy Chairman of the Council on Informatization and Digital Economy of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly (PDF)

«Trajectory of the Future» Olympiad as an effective mechanism to manage transformations in the labour market. Practical course. Morokhova S. N., Director of the International Association of Certification Specialists (PDF)

Series of data on Emplyment of University students: problems and new approaches. Ruzieva E., Prof., Professor of Economics, Almaty Technological University, Kazakhstan, (PDF)

Ugra Memorandum «Information and Communication in the Digital Age» (PDF)

Digital codes of ethics with legal force an international comparison (PDF)