techUK hosts workshop with UK government on the role of transparency and consultation in the adoption of AI in the workplace

On 3 March, techUK held a workshop with UK government Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) and Department for Business & Trade (DBT) to allow members to test the Government’s early thinking on how businesses can be transparent about their use of AI in the workplace, as part of a wider approach to responsible adoption.

There is enormous potential for AI to transform the UK’s workplaces for the better. Estimates suggest that AI could boost UK GDP by £550 billion by 2035, an equivalent to raising annual growth rates by 2% a year. It is this potential for growth that requires AI to be adopted safely, effectively and enthusiastically by workers and employers across the UK.

This is something the UK needs to move apace with, as delaying widespread AI adoption by just five years could reduce AI’s economic impact by over £150 billion. Given as well that 90% of large private sector organisations are more likely to have adopted AI, or have plans to do so, versus just 48% for SMEs, this is a field in which Government support with understanding and implementing AI would be welcome to help SMEs across the country.

DSIT and DBT have identified that many organisations have difficulty navigating the increasingly complex AI governance landscape. To support businesses to responsibly deploy AI systems into their workplace, the Government is working to develop practical tools and advice. We were glad to convene members from across our digital ethics and skills groups for a half day workshop to test the Government’s thinking on transparency in the workplace, provide direct feedback on the usability of potential tools for businesses, and ensure they are viable to support AI adoption across the UK.

One of the major themes throughout the workshop was that, despite being seen as a purely technical exercise, AI adoption in workplaces is all about people. Companies need to understand what matters to their employees when adopting AI, as well as the time and energy constraints on employees’ engagement with changes. As part of this, attendees emphasised the importance of speaking to employees without using technical jargon, the importance of office culture and having leadership buy-in. This underlined the importance of honesty, transparency and clarity when adopting AI.

Another key theme was the idea that AI adoption in the workplace is an evolution of existing practices for adopting technology in the workplace. Despite the revolutionary potential offered by AI for the economy, adoption throws up similar questions to adopting any new technology into a workplace, particularly for any technologies that involve workplace monitoring of staff. AI does pose unique challenges, particularly around discrimination and bias, but we don’t need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to change management in workflows.

Finally, the workshop underlined the idea that businesses must not just think about how successfully they adopt AI, but what their implementation of AI reveals about that business and their working culture. Attendees outlined that there were multiple ways a business could adopt AI successfully depending on their size, employees, what they worked on and more, and what mattered were the principles businesses brought to the adoption process.

Attendees were mindful that any transparency resources created by the Government should align with existing frameworks and not deter adoption of AI through creating complicated bureaucratic hurdles. Attendees emphasised that this would particularly disadvantage small businesses, which have less time and fewer resources for completing such exercises. Instead, the tools the Government are developing were seen as a helpful starting point for meaningful conversations with employees about the use of AI in the workplace, as well as a useful guide for implementation that could be used by a business to display their efforts to deploy AI conscientiously and ethically in their workplace.

We look forward to supporting the Government in its efforts on AI adoption in the future and, once again, wish to thank DSIT, DBT and all those who attended.

Tess Buckley

Programme Manager - Digital Ethics and AI Safety, techUK

Archie Breare

Policy Manager - Skills & Digital Economy, techUK

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