How to fight AI at work

Your mileage may vary is an advice column that offers you a unique framework for thinking through your moral dilemmas. It is based on Value pluralismthe idea that each of us has multiple values ​​that are equally valid but often conflict with one another. To submit a question, fill out this form anonymous form. Here's a reader's question this week, condensed and edited for clarity.

I'm an AI engineer working at a mid-sized ad agency, mostly on non-generative machine learning models (think ad performance prediction, not ad creation). Recently, it seems that people, especially senior and mid-level managers, who have no technical experience are driving the adoption and development of various AI tools. Honestly, it feels like mindless melee combat.

I consider myself a conscientious objector to the use of AI, especially generative AI; I'm not completely against it, but I constantly question who actually benefits from the application of AI and what are the financial, human and environmental costs beyond what's right under our noses. However, as a rank-and-file employee, I have no real way of conveying these concerns to people who actually have decision-making authority. Worse, I feel that even voicing such concerns, admittedly at odds with the almost blind optimism that I assume afflicts most marketing companies, makes me an outcast in my own workplace.

So my question is: Given the difficulty of finding good jobs in AI, is it worth trying to encourage critical use of AI in my company or should I scale it back, if only to keep paying the bills?

Dear conscientious objector,

You're definitely not the only one who hates the uncritical introduction of generative AI. Many people hate it, of artistTo programmerTo students. I bet there are people in your own company who hate it too.

But they don't speak up – and of course there's a reason for that: they're afraid of losing their job.

Frankly, it's a valid concern. And that's why I won't advise you to risk everything and fight this crusade alone. If you as an individual If you object to your company's use of AI, you will be perceived as a “problematic” employee for the company. There could be consequences and I don't want you to lose your paycheck.

But I also don't want you to lose your moral integrity. You are absolutely right when you keep asking who actually benefits from the indiscriminate use of AI and whether the benefits outweigh the costs.

I think you should fight for what you believe in – but as part of a collective. The real question here is not, “Should you voice your concerns about AI or remain silent?” It says: “How can you build solidarity with others who want to be part of a resistance movement with you?” Collaboration is both safer for you as an employee and more likely to make an impact.

“The most important thing a person can do is to be a little less individual,” environmentalist Bill McKibben once said said. “Join with others in movements large enough to have a chance of changing the political and economic ground rules that keep us on this current path.”

Now you know what word I'm going to say next, right? Trade unions. Being able to organize your workplace is a key strategy you can use to combat AI policies you don't agree with.

If you need a little inspiration, check out what some unions have already accomplished – from the Writers Guild of America, the gained important protective measures about AI for Hollywood writers, to the Service Employees International Union, which negotiated with the governor of Pennsylvania Create a worker board Overseeing the implementation of generative AI in government services. Meanwhile, thousands of nurses marched in the streets this year as part of National Nurses United pushed to the right to determine how AI is and is not being used in patient interactions.

“There are a number of different examples where unions have really succeeded in setting the terms of how AI is used – and whether it is used at all,” says Sarah Myers West, co-executive director of the AI Now Institutetold me recently.

If it's too difficult to form a union in your workplace, there are numerous organizations you can work with. Check this out Algorithmic Justice League or Fight for the futurewho advocate for fair and responsible technology. There are also grassroots groups like Stop Gen AIwhose aim is to organize both a resistance movement and a mutual aid program to help those who have lost their jobs due to the introduction of AI.

You can also consider hyperlocal efforts that have the benefit of creating community. One of the big ways these are popping up right now is this Fight against the massive expansion of energy-hungry data centers is supposed to drive the AI ​​boom.

“Here we saw how many people fought back in their communities – and won,” Myers West told me. “They're fighting on behalf of their own communities and working together collectively and strategically to say, 'We're getting a really bad deal here. And if you.' [the companies] If you want to take full advantage of this technology, you have to be accountable to the people who use it.'”

According to a study by , local activists have already blocked or delayed $64 billion in data center projects across the United States Data center monitoringa project by the AI ​​research company 10a Labs.

Yes, some of these data centers could still be built at some point. Yes, fighting the uncritical adoption of AI can sometimes feel like facing an invincible giant. But it helps to avoid discouragement if you take a step back and think about what it really looks like when social change takes place.

In a new book, Someone should do something, Three philosophers – Michael Brownstein, Alex Madva and Daniel Kelly – show how everyone can contribute to social change. The key, she believes, is to recognize that when we join forces with others, our actions can lead to butterfly effects:

Smaller actions can trigger cascades that lead to major structural outcomes in a surprisingly short period of time. This reflects a general characteristic of complex systems. Causal effects in such systems do not always build on each other smoothly or continuously. Sometimes they build up non-linearly, so that seemingly small events can cause disproportionately large changes.

The authors explain that your actions are not a meaningless “drop in the ocean,” as society is a complex system. Adding water to a bucket is linear; Every drop has the same effect. Complex systems behave more like heating water: not every degree has the same effect, and the transition from 99 °C to 100 °C crosses an inflection point that triggers a phase change.

We all know the boiling point of water, but we don't know the tipping point for change in the social world. This means that at any given time it will be difficult for you to tell how close you are to a cascade of change. But that doesn't mean there isn't change.

According to a study by Harvard political scientist Erica Chenoweth, if you want to achieve systemic social change, you have to mobilize 3.5 percent the population around your concern. While we have not yet seen AI-related protests on this scale, we have data that suggests the potential for widespread support. A full one 50 percent According to a recent Pew Research Center survey, Americans are more worried than excited about the rise of AI in everyday life. And 73 percent According to the Future of Life Institute, support robust regulation of AI.

Even though you may feel alone in your workplace, there are people who share your concerns. Find your teammates. Come up with a positive vision for the future of technology. Then fight for the future you want.

Bonus: What I read