Microsoft Game Developer Union Reaches Deal On How AI Can Be Used In Workplace
As Microsoft’s first U.S. union and the tech giant continue to negotiate over a first labor contract, the parties have reached a tentative agreement on one of the agreement’s most important articles, covering the use of artificial intelligence.
The union at video game developer ZeniMax Studios (The Elder Scrolls Online, DOOM: Eternal) has cinched a promise that Microsoft will notify the labor group when the use of AI could affect members’ work and will “bargain those impacts upon request,” the group announced Monday. The parties also agreed on six general “guiding principles” on AI with the employer, which the union says is aimed at encouraging uses of the technology that will improve and supplement the work of humans, rather than act as a destructive force: The use and development of the technology must be “fair,” “reliable and safe,” “private and secure,” “inclusive,” “transparent” and “accountable.”
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Aligned with the Communication Workers of America, the ZeniMax union represents 376 quality assurance (QA) professionals and contractors. When the union was first formed in January after a card count, it became Microsoft’s inaugural domestic union — now, the group says, it has become the first labor group in the video game industry to reach a deal with its employer over the use of AI.
The Hollywood Reporter has asked Microsoft for comment.
“Coming to this agreement was a high priority for us. It’s hard to say how developments with AI may impact our work, but now we can be more confident that the agreement will help to protect us as we navigate the potential adoption of AI into our workflow,” said ZeniMax senior QA tester Dylan Burton in a statement.
Microsoft and the ZeniMax union have been in negotiations over a first contract since April. Once a tentative deal is reached, members will be able to weigh in on the overall terms of the deal — including its AI language — in a ratification vote.
The news arrives the same day that Microsoft announced that it is forming an alliance with the U.S.’ largest labor federation, the AFL-CIO, on AI. The stated goal of the new partnership is to encourage information-sharing between the company and labor groups on AI developments, bring workers into the process of advancing AI technology and foment collaboration on public policy, the company stated. As part of the agreement, the company also committed to maintaining a neutral stance on worker organizing efforts by AFL-CIO member unions. In addition to the CWA, the AFL-CIO includes SAG-AFTRA, the Writers Guild of America East and IATSE as members. The partnership is set to begin its work at the start of 2024.
In 2022, Microsoft struck a labor neutrality agreement with the CWA applying to workers at Activision Blizzard, which the tech giant was then in the midst of acquiring. Now that the tech mega-deal has gone through, the agreement is set to take effect later this month, essentially barring Microsoft from vigorously opposing union-organizing efforts at the video game company.
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