Artificial intelligence promises a future of unprecedented productivity and wealth, but for Senator Bernie Sanders, the crucial question isn’t if the technology will change the world, but who will benefit from that change. As a lifelong champion for workers’ rights, Sanders sees the rapid advancement of AI not just as a technological revolution, but as the next major battleground in the fight against corporate greed and inequality.
In a conversation with Gizmodo, the Vermont senator, who revealed he had just spoken with one of the world’s leading AI experts, laid out his fears that the technology will be used to suppress wages, break unions, and further enrich the billionaire class. He also shared his concerns about AI’s impact on our collective mental health and discussed the “doomsday scenario” that has some top minds in the industry worried that humanity could lose control of its own creation.
The conversation has been edited for clarity and formatted as a Q&A. All quotes are verbatim and unaltered.
Gizmodo: Senator, you’ve long fought for worker dignity. In an economy increasingly shaped by AI, what do you believe should be the new definition of meaningful work?
Sen. Sanders: Well, that is a very good question, and I don’t know that I can give you an intelligent answer to it right now, but this is what I will say. What I think is being lost in the discussion over AI is what we have seen over the last 50 years: a huge increase in worker productivity. Almost all of the benefits of that productivity have gone to the corporations and to the companies that developed that technology. In fact, workers today, in real inflation-accounted-for wages, are earning less, and I fear very much that almost all the new benefits of worker productivity will go to the people on top at the expense of working people. That is something that concerns me very much.
So, the first point to be made: Technology and AI is neither good nor bad. It depends on how it is used, and it depends upon who benefits from it. Unless we change the political dynamics, the benefits are going to accrue to the people on top at the expense of working people. That to me is the most important issue. I want workers to benefit from this new technology, not just the people on top.
Historically, I mean forever—in human existence—people have had to struggle to put food on the table, to farm, to grow food, just to survive. And AI is going to change all that, and we want to make sure that this creates a better, wealthier future for ordinary people, not just the people on top.
Gizmodo: In terms of protection, what protections are needed for American workers to avoid being left behind in this transition?
Sen. Sanders: I think we have got to make it clear in some formulation or another, and some of the unions are beginning to negotiate for this. That if worker productivity, if you, the job you are doing right now becomes more productive with AI, I want the benefits to accrue to you.
What does that mean? It could mean a shorter work week, a 32-hour work week, which is what we’re fighting for, with no loss of pay. Again, the main point is workers have got to benefit from increased productivity, not just CEOs. Right now, that is not the case, so that is what we have got to change.
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