IFPTE Participates in Senate Forum Regarding AI’s Impact on National Defense and Homeland Security

IFPTE President, Matt Biggs, was one of twenty-one panelists who participated in a bipartisan forum this week hosted by Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Senators Mike Rounds (R-SD), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), and Todd Young (R-IN).  The forum is the ninth of a series of Senate forums held this year to examine Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its impact on all facets of society. 

The forum focused on AI’s impact on national and homeland security.  Biggs, who was the only labor witness at the forum and accompanied by legislative director, Faraz Khan, outlined IFPTE’s concerns with the prospects of implementing AI throughout the Department of Defense and other federal government agencies without any involvement of workers in the decision-making process, noting that, workers “would prioritize our national security interest above all else, versus permitting profit-making priorities to influence these critical national security determinations.” 

Biggs also recommended that Congressional lawmakers legislate that “any work performed by government employees that is deemed an “inherently governmental function,” “closely associated with inherently governmental functions,” or subject to the national security exemption, be completely protected from being replaced by AI provided by a private sector contractor.” 

Read Biggs’ full statement, and learn more about the Senate AI forums.