Microsoft and ZeniMax union reach "first of its kind" agreement over usage of AI tools in gamedev

rockpapershotgun.com:

The videogame union ZeniMax Workers United have come to a "tentative", "first of its kind" agreement with ZeniMax parent company Microsoft over the company's usage of the latest "artificial intelligence" tools in the workplace. As part of the agreement, ZeniMax will "provide notice to the union in cases where AI implementation may impact the work of union members" and the union will be able to "bargain those impacts" where they feel it necessary. It seems genuinely historic, to me: a tech company formally giving their workforce a say on the adoption of tools that continue to feel like a pretext for efficiency-minded "restructuring".

The agreement commits ZeniMax to "human-centered AI implementations" and specifically, implementations that are (drumroll) "Fair"; "Reliable and Safe"; "Private and Secure"; "Inclusive"; "Transparent"; and "Accountable". Overall, ZeniMax will use AI tools in ways that "augment human ingenuity and capacities" and "enhance worker productivity, growth, and satisfaction without causing workers harm".

"Coming to this agreement was a high priority for us," ZeniMax QA tester and ZWU member Dylan Burton comments in a ZWU press release. "It's hard to say how developments with AI may impact our work, but now we can be more confident that the agreement will help to protect us as we navigate the potential adoption of AI into our workflow.

"It is crucial that all workers have a voice in what role AI plays in their work and can hold their employers accountable for the impacts of its use," he goes on. "This agreement empowers us to shape the ways we may choose to use AI in our work and also gives us the means to address those impacts before their potential implementation."

ZeniMax Workers United