Cows say - Right to disagreement !!

Whether you feel  threatened or excited by AI may not be material, the fact remains that AI is occupying increasing space.  

For those unaware, Microsoft calls its AI products copilots, this is aimed to convey that they work with employees rather than replacing them. Still, Microsoft executives acknowledge the wider deployment of these and other kinds of AI tools will change people’s jobs and may have broader workforce impacts.   

In every issue – you have the option of ‘Agreeing or disagreeing’ – yet there are many who may not have a clearer view or express their views at all – that gives the minority to win  ! 

Agreement (noun):    the state of agreeing with somebody/something.

ஒத்திசைவு; உடன்பாடு; கருத்தொற்றுமை.

2. a contract or decision that two or more people have made together.

இருவர் அல்லது இரண்டுக்கு மேற்பட்டவர்கள் செய்துகொள்ளும் ஒப்பந்தம்; உடன்படிக்கை.

 

All contracts are agreements, not all agreements are contracts. An agreement is a promise or arrangement between two or more parties to do, or not do, something. It’s usually informal and sometimes unwritten (but not always). When inked and signed, it perhaps gets more acceptance and authority to enforce at a later stage. 

Insurance is a contract between Insurers and Insured and the principles of law of contract does apply. A contract is an agreement between two or more parties that creates an obligation to do or not to do something. The parties to the contract are under an obligation to perform the terms and conditions as laid down in the contract. Thus a contract can confer rights or impose obligations arising under the contract on the parties to the contract. Third parties cannot be under such an obligation to perform or demand performance under a contract. This is referred to as Privity of contract. 

Century ago, Marx propagated that the central problem was the existence of  a class of people who have no property and are thus forced to labor for a living.  Then there was  another class of people who owned the productive capital. These people don’t have to engage in productive labor; they can command the labor of others.  They essentially compel other people to labor for them and then appropriate much of the wealth that is produced as their own property.  That was Marxian theory !! 

In  1917, revolution exploded in Russia. Workers, soldiers and peasants established soviets (councils), the monarchy fell and a provisional government convoked pending the election of a constituent assembly. In April of that year, Vladimir Lenin, leader of the Bolshevik faction of socialists in Russia and known for his profound and controversial expansions of Marxism, was allowed to cross Germany to return to his country from exile in Switzerland. Lenin  proposed that the social revolution would require the leadership of a vanguard party of class-conscious revolutionaries from the educated and politically active part of the population. 

That Lenin and Leninism failed miserably is something else to write – quite faster, the cause for concern was the growing bureaucratization of both party and state. Under the terms of the strict discipline that Lenin imposed, the ruling party became increasingly centralized, with its directorate—headed by the Politburo and the Secretariat of the Central Committee—making decisions on its own authority without consulting the party cadres. Dissent from lower organs was ignored and punished if pressed. The local branches of the party lost the right to elect their officers; these were routinely appointed by the Secretariat. They snatched power stating proletariatism but sooner the politburo started behaving in much similar manner. 

The recent news is - Microsoft has agreed to include an AI article in a collective bargaining agreement with the Communications Workers of America (CWA), allowing workers to challenge the company's use of AI. The agreement incorporates Microsoft's AI principles and commits to applying them across all AI technologies. It also obliges Microsoft to inform the union of any potential impact of AI or automation on union members' work and to negotiate over the impact on employees. The CWA president emphasized the importance of preserving unions' rights in the face of technological advancements. 

Microsoft has reportedly agreed to union contract language governing its use of artificial intelligence (AI), creating an avenue for workers to challenge how it deploys the technology. According to a report in Bloomberg, as part of negotiations with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) Microsoft has reached a tentative agreement on an AIarticle to include in a contract covering a few hundred staff at Microsoft’s video game studio ZeniMax. 

Incidentally, what makes it important is that this is the first US collective bargaining in the company’s history. Collective bargaining agreements generally include grievance procedures that can be invoked when either side believes the other has violated the terms, which can include escalating issues to mediation or arbitration.  The language incorporates Microsoft’s six previously announced AI principles, which commit the company to ensuring the systems “treat all people fairly” and “empower everyone and engage people.”

 
Interesting !!
 
With regards – S Sampathkumar
15.12.2023