Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is sounding the alarm in a report out Monday, saying that without regulation, artificial intelligence (AI) could lead to the loss of up to 100 million jobs in the United States over the next decade.
In his 25-page report, the senator – ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee – said that without action from Congress, large technology companies could use AI to replace jobs currently staffed by humans.
“The same handful of oligarchs who have rigged our economy for decades – Elon Musk, Larry Ellison, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and others – are now moving as fast as they can to replace human workers with what they call ‘artificial labor,’” Sen. Sanders said in a statement. “If we do not act, the result could be economic devastation for working people across this country.”
Using ChatGPT to analyze job descriptions and predict which tasks could be performed by AI, and reviewing economic data, investor transcripts, and financial filings, Sen. Sanders’ staff said that some large corporations are already using AI to replace humans in some roles to reduce labor costs.
Specifically, most fast food and counter workers, accountants, and around half of truck drivers will be the most impacted by AI, according to the report.
“Technology can and should improve the lives of working people,” Sen. Sanders said. “But it will not happen if decisions are made in boardrooms by billionaires who only care about short-term profits. Congress must ensure that AI and automation benefit workers, not just corporate CEOs and Wall Street.”
Sen. Sanders also pointed to recent Trump administration policies and efforts, including the White House’s AI Action Plan, which calls for cutting AI-related federal funding for states that implement certain AI regulations.
To counter automation’s threat to jobs, Sen. Sanders proposed a 32-hour workweek, requiring corporations to share profits and board seats, expanding employee ownership, enacting a robot tax, and strengthening paid leave and other benefits, among additional employee protections.
Concerns over AI’s threats to American jobs has become a bipartisan issue in recent months, with hardline Republicans voicing concern about unregulated growth of automation. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., went as far as opposing the Trump administration’s reconciliation funding bill earlier this year because it included a House-approved 10-year moratorium on state-level AI laws.
“In the state of Georgia, jobs are extremely important, and AI … will replace jobs,” Rep. Greene said at the time. “If our state cannot regulate or make laws to protect people’s jobs, people are going to go hungry, they’re not going to have paychecks.”
Currently, there are no federal laws in place to regulate AI, but over 100 AI-related laws have been passed or enacted by 38 states this year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.