A snapshot of workers in Wales’ understanding and experience of AI

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From the mechanised loom to the IBM punch card machines, various forms of automation and new technologies have driven change in the workplace, employment relations and industrial structures.

Artificial intelligence, while present since the 1960s, exploded into popular discourse with the launch of ChatGPT late in 2022. The political high profile and technological development presents many threats, both evident and speculated. However, the disruption has also presented an opportunity; to assert the needs of workers in a social and technological shift, and to contest the current domination - of narratives, practices and policies - by a narrow sliver of perspectives and tech companies.

Despite the intense attention and interest on AI, the conversation has not brought widespread clarity to a complex technological issue. AI encapsulates everything from the most advanced machine learning models to spreadsheet formulae and common algorithms in everyday use.

It has generated furious debate over its specific and general impact on different sectors and society at large. Gaining a clearer picture is an essential precursor to taking action.

Prompted by this, a Resolution on Data and AI was passed at the 2022 Wales TUC Congress to build on the social partnership approach underway in Wales. The resolution called on the Welsh Government to develop a framework for approaching AI that respects the need for worker voice, ‘data justice’, and managing adverse effects on jobs, among other aspects (see appendix).

To support this resolution, Wales TUC undertook to investigate the current experiences of trade unionists in Wales. Connected by Data and Dr Juan Grigera of King's College London supported this initiative.

Polling commissioned by the Prospect union and published in June 2023 found that a majority of workers would like to see government regulation of generative AI at work and would be uncomfortable being subject to surveillance technologies currently active in many workplaces.

Our research sought to gain qualitative and contextualised insight to complement the substantial evidence of a general concern from workers about the impact of AI on jobs and working lives.

Fifty-six union officials, reps, and unionised workers were interviewed in seven focus groups and one briefing that spanned 19 trade unions and seven broadly defined economic sectors (public sector, education, manufacturing, creative industries, retail, telecommunications and logistics).

The research programme sought to:

Understand how union officials and lay workplace reps are experiencing and being impacted by AI in their workplaces.
Understand the extent to which trade unions are supporting the effective negotiation of technologies in the workplace, and the means workers have to ensure AI is worker-centric. This included asking about training and educational materials produced by the TUC’s AI Project and Wales TUC’s work on AI and digitalisation with the Workforce Partnership Council.

The project published blog posts of the focus groups as the research was underway. This sought to enable the greater sharing of sector specific detail and contributions by trade unionists.

Published blogs

Investigating how AI is understood and impacting Welsh workers and trade unionists, August 2023
Artificial intelligence is cleverer than you, workers told, August 2023
How workers at a further education college are taking the initiative on AI deployment, September 2023
Poor workplace democracy can hinder innovation and health and safety, union reps say, November 2023
How AI is using creatives' work, voice and images, November 2023
Fear, optimism and determination: trade unionists respond to artificial intelligence in myriad of ways, January 2024

The scope of this report

This report concentrates on the views and experiences of the unionised workers, reps and union officers who participated in the research between July and November 2023.

Trade unionists, reps and officers from the following unions participated:

BDA, Bectu, Community, CWU, Equity, FDA, GMB, the Musicians’ Union, NASUWT, NEU, NUJ, PCS, the Royal College of Podiatry, the Society of Radiographers, UCAC, UCU, UNISON, Unite and the Writers' Guild of Great Britain.

By engaging active lay trade unionists and union officials, this research has qualitative contributions from this cohort.

Conversely therefore this research has limited insight on the experience of non-unionised workers or workplaces with low rates of unionisation. These sectors include those within which AI is expected to have a significant impact but historically have low union density. These sectors include accountancy, legal professions and the services sector such as marketing.

This report does not specifically engage with the experience of platform or gig workers, as the impact of AI in this sector has substantial research to date.

Finally, this research did not investigate particular incidents, as the focus groups sought to gather the reported experiences and perspectives of workers.

Getting to grips with AI at work

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