Dear Friend –

It seems that artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are everywhere these days, from hiring algorithms to ranking systems in social media to predictive words in text.

But while many are seeing these technologies through rose-colored glasses lately, real and significant harms are already happening as a result of AI technologies. And unfortunately, we’re on a fast track to repeat the same mistakes we made with social media platforms back in the early 2000s.

Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer released a long awaited roadmap for AI policy in the Senate. [1] While the roadmap includes significant industry priorities — recommending $32 billion for private-sector and government research and development — we need to make sure that AI policy addresses the existing ways the technology is already harming our communities in areas as diverse as workers' rights, the environment, and creators such as writers and artists. The report does not do enough to prioritize the dangers of AI, especially as it relates to gig workers like Uber or Lyft drivers.

To highlight these challenges with AI, Accountable Tech has produced a series of videos shining light on the present-day harms of AI. While we don’t do this often, we want to share all these videos with you over the coming days. Stay tuned for emails in the coming days on how AI is undermining the environment and creatives.

Our first video takes an in-depth look at Uber, the ride-sharing service, and how it’s rolled out new AI-driven systems that exploit riders and drivers by extracting maximum profits from passengers and securing minimal payments to drivers. Watch and share our video on your favorite social media channels today.

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One Uber driver we talked to – who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation – told us that “all my safety issues or concerns … it’s decided by that AI system. And trying to reach support, it’s just like, you know … it’s a black hole.”

The ugly reality these days is that there is virtually no accountability around AI and the corporations that use them to exploit and subjugate workers. This will hopefully change in the future with AI-related legislation at the federal level, but if that legislation isn’t well informed by the harms already occurring as a result of AI, it won’t provide the solution that we need.

Thank you for helping us spread the word today,

Nicole Gill
Co-founder and Executive Director
Accountable Tech

We see the irony of asking you to take action on the same platforms we’re fighting to hold accountable, but they are… well… dominant. We have to reach people where they are in order to level the playing field -- and we’re ready to bring the fight right to their own platforms.

Sources
1. New York Times: Senators Propose $32 Billion in Annual A.I. Spending but Defer Regulation

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