AI regulation in the EU and the world of work: critiquing inevitability, for resistance

Artificial intelligence (AI) is not inevitable, but the regulation and governance trajectories surrounding its development demonstrate that there are no opportunities for outright rejection, nor abolition built into legislation. The emphasis governments are placing on AI development reflects a desire for some kind of salvation from a serious economic recession, in the context of geopolitical warfare and widespread moves to the far right. Though the EU is still basing regulation on a repeatedly stated ‘fundamental rights’ framework, still, its advancements of AI are disproportionately shaped by the interests of businesses and employers. Regulation pushes for innovations and avoids discussions of real solutions and certainly does not look for alternatives. AI and its seeming rise require not only regulatory responses but also political responses of resistance. This article, which is part of the Artificial Intelligence Observatory for the World of Work (AIPOWW) Symposium for Global Political Economy, begins by examining the regulatory power of the AI Act, and identifies its weighting towards corporate, rather than social, interests. There is a need for deeper conversations regarding resistance, worker-led governance and what is at stake for the world of work overall as AI is developed.