There’s a Long-Shot Proposal to Protect California Workers From AI
There’s a Long-Shot Proposal to Protect California Workers From AI
加州一项旨在保护人工智能时代劳动者的“孤注一掷”提案
Billionaire California gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer is rolling out a new proposal that would guarantee jobs with benefits for workers displaced by artificial intelligence. He’s the first state-wide candidate to make such a pledge. 亿万富翁、加州州长候选人汤姆·斯泰尔（Tom Steyer）近日推出了一项新提案，旨在为被人工智能取代的劳动者提供有福利保障的工作岗位。他是首位做出此类承诺的州级候选人。
The plan, which builds on a broader AI policy framework Steyer released in March, promises to make California “the first major economy in the world” to ensure “good-paying” jobs to workers impacted by AI. To do so, Steyer tells WIRED he plans to build off a previous proposal to introduce a “token tax” which would tax big tech companies “a fraction of a cent for every unit of data processed” for AI. The funding generated by that tax would go to what Steyer has called the Golden State Sovereign Wealth Fund, with some of that money being earmarked for jobs building housing, health care, and modernizing California’s energy infrastructure. 该计划建立在斯泰尔三月份发布的更广泛的人工智能政策框架之上，承诺使加州成为“世界上第一个”确保受人工智能影响的劳动者获得“高薪”工作的主要经济体。斯泰尔告诉《连线》（WIRED），他计划在之前提出的“代币税”（token tax）提案基础上进行扩展，即对大型科技公司处理的每一单位人工智能数据征收“几分之一美分”的税。由此产生的资金将进入斯泰尔所称的“金州主权财富基金”（Golden State Sovereign Wealth Fund），其中部分资金将专门用于住房建设、医疗保健以及加州能源基础设施的现代化改造。
“The aim of the initiative will be to strengthen the foundation of the state’s economy, invest in our communities, and create beautiful, vibrant public spaces,” states a campaign memo viewed by WIRED. “To support these efforts, Tom will also invest heavily in training and apprenticeship programs across the state.” 《连线》查阅的一份竞选备忘录指出：“该倡议旨在加强州经济基础，投资社区，并创造美丽、充满活力的公共空间。为了支持这些努力，汤姆还将大力投资全州的培训和学徒项目。”
The new plan also intends to expand unemployment insurance and establish a new agency called the AI Worker Protection Administration that would include union leaders, academics, and technologists that would adopt rules to protect workers’ rights, the memo says. 备忘录称，该新计划还打算扩大失业保险范围，并成立一个名为“人工智能劳动者保护管理局”（AI Worker Protection Administration）的新机构。该机构将由工会领袖、学者和技术专家组成，负责制定保护劳动者权益的规则。
“People all over this state are terrified that AI is going to hollow out this whole economy and they’re going to lose their jobs. Young people are worried they’ll never get a job,” Steyer tells WIRED. “We believe this can be an amazing transformational technology in many ways, but we’re not in the business of leaving people in California behind.” “全州的人们都非常担心人工智能会掏空整个经济，导致他们失业。年轻人则担心自己永远找不到工作，”斯泰尔告诉《连线》，“我们相信这在许多方面可能是一项了不起的变革性技术，但我们绝不会让加州的民众掉队。”
Steyer’s job guarantee comes as lawmakers across the state and federal levels—and even some AI executives—scramble to address the ramifications of widespread AI adoption across the US workforce. In New Jersey, state senator Troy Singleton recently put out a bill that would require companies that replace workers with AI to contribute to a fund that would pay to retrain those workers. In Congress, there are a handful of proposals for grants and tax credits for companies to provide AI training to existing employees. 斯泰尔提出就业保障之际，正值州和联邦层面的立法者——甚至包括一些人工智能高管——都在竞相应对人工智能在美国劳动力市场广泛应用所带来的影响。在新泽西州，州参议员特洛伊·辛格尔顿（Troy Singleton）最近提出了一项法案，要求用人工智能取代员工的公司向一个基金捐款，用于支付这些员工的再培训费用。在国会，也有少数提案建议通过拨款和税收抵免，鼓励公司为现有员工提供人工智能培训。
Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, has previously suggested the concept of a token tax that is now being proposed by Steyer. “Obviously, that’s not in my economic interest,” Amodei told Axios last year. “But I think that would be a reasonable solution to the problem.” In April, OpenAI proposed a similar public wealth fund to what Steyer has rolled out. Anthropic首席执行官达里奥·阿莫代（Dario Amodei）此前曾提出过斯泰尔现在所倡导的“代币税”概念。阿莫代去年告诉Axios：“显然，这不符合我的经济利益，但我认为这会是解决该问题的一个合理方案。”今年四月，OpenAI也提出了一个与斯泰尔所推行方案类似的公共财富基金构想。
Steyer’s announcement comes days after Democratic primary opponent Xavier Becerra—former Health and Human Services secretary under president Joe Biden—offered his own AI plan. In that proposal, Becerra calls for “workforce investment and transition support” but doesn’t provide a specific funding mechanism. 斯泰尔宣布这一消息的前几天，他的民主党初选对手、乔·拜登总统任内的前卫生与公众服务部部长哈维尔·贝塞拉（Xavier Becerra）也提出了自己的人工智能计划。在提案中，贝塞拉呼吁进行“劳动力投资和转型支持”，但并未提供具体的资金筹措机制。
“Displacement without support is abandonment,” Becerra said in a Monday memo outlining his plan. “I will work with the Legislature, the California public education system and industry partners to build accessible, stackable workforce programs that prepare Californians for the AI economy and support workers navigating role changes.” “没有支持的岗位流失就是抛弃，”贝塞拉在周一概述其计划的备忘录中表示，“我将与立法机构、加州公共教育系统及行业合作伙伴共同努力，建立可及的、可叠加的劳动力项目，帮助加州人为人工智能经济做好准备，并支持在岗位变动中寻求出路的劳动者。”
Over the past few months, the White House has threatened to go after states that choose to regulate AI. In December, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that could revoke federal broadband funding from states that approve “onerous” AI laws. This is happening in local races as well: In New York, a super PAC backed by a number of Silicon Valley powerhouses, including OpenAI cofounder Greg Brockman, has targeted Alex Bores, a Manhattan congressional candidate who has made AI regulation the centerpiece of his campaign. 过去几个月里，白宫威胁要对那些选择监管人工智能的州采取行动。去年十二月，唐纳德·特朗普总统签署了一项行政命令，可能撤销那些批准“繁苛”人工智能法律的州的联邦宽带资金。这种情况也发生在地方选举中：在纽约，一个由包括OpenAI联合创始人格雷格·布罗克曼（Greg Brockman）在内的多家硅谷巨头支持的超级政治行动委员会（Super PAC），将矛头对准了曼哈顿国会候选人亚历克斯·博雷斯（Alex Bores），而博雷斯已将人工智能监管作为其竞选的核心议题。
“Not regulating AI doesn’t seem remotely reasonable,” Steyer says. “But if California wants to lead, we’ve got to have a vision for the future that includes something that is not just about letting entrepreneurs get rich at the expense of everybody else.” “不对人工智能进行监管，这看起来一点也不合理，”斯泰尔说，“但如果加州想要保持领先，我们就必须拥有一个面向未来的愿景，而这个愿景不能仅仅是让企业家以牺牲他人利益为代价来致富。”