Hwang Deok-soon, head of the Committee on Labor-Management Coexistence in the AI Transition under the Economic, Social and Labor Council, speaks to reporters after the first meeting at its headquarters in Seoul, Friday. Newsis
Korea launched a new tripartite body to confront the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on labor, bringing together unions, employers and the government in a yearlong dialogue on how to manage the transition inside real workplaces, rather than in abstract policy debates.
On Friday, the Economic, Social and Labor Council (ESLC), a presidential advisory body on labor and social issues, formed the Committee on Labor-Management Coexistence in the AI Transition and held its first plenary meeting at its headquarters in Seoul.
The committee is designed as a formal forum where labor, business and government jointly examine how the spread of AI is changing industrial worksites and employment and develop solutions to better embrace the transformation.
Chaired by Hwang Deok-soon, former senior presidential secretary on jobs during the Moon Jae-in administration, the committee consists of 17 members, including three representatives each from labor and management, four from government and six public interest members.
The committee will focus on four main themes: the impact and current state of AI adoption; ways to use AI in a manner compatible with labor-management coexistence and to respond to job and task changes; measures to increase acceptance of AI-related data collection and use; and the creation of support systems for workers and companies undergoing AI-driven transitions.
The launch comes amid growing public anxiety over a potential “great AI replacement,” as technologies such as humanoid robots move closer to commercial reality.
In particular, the committee plans to ground its work in workplace reality by examining how AI is actually being introduced and used on factory floors and in offices, combining site visits with expert presentations and discussions among members.
More detailed topics — such as how to obtain worker consent for AI-related data collection and how far companies may go in gathering and using specific details of work data — are expected to be fleshed out as the committee’s deliberations proceed.
“It is not the AI technology itself, but how our society chooses to adopt and use it, that will determine the future of jobs,” Hwang said. “We want to move beyond abstract debates for or against AI and start by looking at how it is actually being introduced and used in industrial workplaces, what changes workers and companies are experiencing, and what institutional safeguards and support measures are needed.”
Source: Korea Times News
