How do workers receive technology changes around AI, particularly those posed by physical AI systems?
I was curious about an article that I saw regarding South Korean labor union activity, so I took a closer look. What I found was a particularly compelling example of the impact on a multinational firm with operations in both Asia (South Korea) and the United States.
Let’s start with what we know: Hyundai is working on robots for its production facilities, and unveiled a system called Atlas, made by Boston Dynamics, at the CES trade show in January.
There’s also this contemporary reporting from Reuters:
“Hyundai’s plan to deploy humanoid robots starting in 2028 has sent its shares rallying to record highs, but it was not welcome news for workers, the union said in an internal letter reviewed by Reuters.”
Reuters reporters Heekyong Yang and Hyunjoo Jin cite this internal letter as proof that Hyundai workers and their union are not only paying attention to the robot threat, but working it into collective bargaining.
Here’s the strange part: as reported by Jeremy Hsu at Ars Tecnica, Hyundai is reportedly denying that the robot issue is part of any talks with the union presently.
“Hyundai Motor Company’s plan to put humanoid robots to work by 2028 is not part of current negotiations with striking South Korean autoworkers, according to the company,” Hsu writes. “The automaker is disputing news reports that partial labor strikes by the Hyundai Motor union at the world’s largest automotive plant in South Korea were spurred by concerns about the company’s planned deployment of humanoid robots in the United States starting in 2028. A company statement shared with Ars describes the union’s demands as focusing on compensation-related issues such as wage increases, bonuses, and an extension of workers’ retirement age.”
Strike activity aside, Hyundai’s statement is in direct contradiction to that piece of reporting above. So are Korean workers reacting concretely to Hyundai’s early plans?
Well, it’s likely, given the attitude of workers worldwide to AI in general. Many of those gainfully employed understand that, to some extent, AI opportunities in the markets will threaten their own livelihoods in some way. That gets even more direct when you’re talking about AI robots walking into your workplace, where you make things.
The Effect Stateside
So how will this affect U.S. workers?
Well, a little digging shows that at Hyundai’s American plant in Georgia, workers are not unionized. So that answers that question. The workers don’t have any say, either way. It’s a non-starter.
I found reporting that the auto worker’s general union in the U.S. has started taking on the robot issue. There’s even reporting that the union has made efforts to unionize that American Hyundai plant, but was unsuccessful. Union coverage meets particular challenges, culturally and otherwise, in the U.S.
As I continued to research this, both the internet and various AI models played a game of “he said, she said,” regarding whether the so-called Metaplant in Ellabelle, Georgia, is a union shop, but the preponderance of reporting suggests that there wasn’t enough buy-in to unionize there.
Sounding the Alarm
In a more general sense, the American auto industry’s union is paying attention. Check out this “Montgomery Can’t Wait” campaign from last year, where UAW people promoted the idea of vigilance around this issue. In fact, that campaign included another Hyundai plant in Alabama, which is strange since some of the public reporting suggests that the Metaplant is Hyundai’s “sole facility.”
I found the whole thing to be quite messy, for Internet sleuths. What we can see, though, is that unions are cognizant of the long-term impacts of AI robots. They’re trying to set up safeguards. Will they be successful? That’s anyone’s guess, to an extent. Here’s something from Aurelia Glass at the Center for American Progress.
“As policymakers seek solutions to the current and future impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) on workers across the country, workers themselves are using their union bargaining power to negotiate contract provisions that prevent the elimination of jobs, place limits on surveillance and algorithmic management, and enable workers to benefit from productivity boosts offered by AI tools,” Glass writes.
Glass elucidates the threat to workers this way, quoting none other than Sam Altman:
“For many workers, AI further threatens to automate parts or all of their jobs or worsen conditions by replacing human decision-making with algorithmic management driven by data harvested via invasive surveillance. Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT developer OpenAI, predicts ‘jobs are definitely going to go away, full stop.’”
It seems like there are a lot of moving parts here. Every country treats unions, and AI robots, differently – and AI is coming to every country.
Stay tuned.