Politico, E&E News union gear up for AI fight

The union that represents journalists at Politico and E&E News believe an agreement over how artificial intelligence is being used has been violated, writes Kate Knibbs of Wired.

Knibbs writes, “Politico union members, however, allege these tools violated their contract in several ways, and are taking the dispute to arbitration this July. ‘The company is required to give us 60 days notice of any use of new technology that will materially and substantively impact bargaining unit job duties,’ says PEN union chair and E&E public health reporter Ariel Wittenberg. The union claims that it was given neither notice nor an opportunity to bargain in good faith over Politico’s AI rollout, and that the tools do work that would ordinarily be done by human staff.

“‘This isn’t just a contract dispute, it’s a test of whether journalists have a say in how AI is used in our work. With no federal rules in place, union contracts remain one of the only enforceable frameworks for AI accountability on a national scale,’ says Newsguild president Jon Schleuss. (PEN Guild is a unit within Newsguild, one of the most prominent unions for journalists.)

“Politico says the publication ‘takes the obligations under its collective bargaining agreement seriously,’ and ‘will continue to honor those obligations while also rapidly embracing transformative technologies such as AI that will revolutionize how our audience consumes news and information,’ according to spokesperson Heather Riley.”

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