Abstract:
San Mateo County, California, USA, is pushing for a new licensing system for autonomous robots. If a company uses robots to replace manual positions in the future, it may need to assume corresponding employee placement or retraining responsibilities. The proposal, which combines safety regulation of robot use with employment protection, has been hailed by the local government as a brand new regulatory attempt.
The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 this week to advance the ordinance. One of the core goals of the ordinance, proposed by County Supervisor Ray Mueller, is to establish a licensing system for autonomous, artificial intelligence-controlled robots while addressing public safety risks such as battery fires that robots may pose, as well as their impact on the job market.
Under the current proposal, companies must apply for a license if they use robots equipped with rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, cameras or sensors that can operate with a certain degree of autonomy, and if these robots work in areas accessible to employees or the public.
When a company applies for a license, it not only needs to disclose information such as the robot manufacturer and safety performance, but also must submit an "economic impact assessment" and a "workforce mitigation plan" to explain the impact that the robot may have on existing employees after it is put into use, and what measures the company is prepared to take.
The most talked-about of these is the Workforce Mitigation Plan. For employees who lose their original positions due to robotic automation, companies need to choose one of three options. The first is to reassign employees to other positions and ensure that they receive at least the same salary as their original ones; the second is to notify employees 60 days in advance and pay corresponding severance pay; and the third is to pay a new "County Automation Impact Fee" to San Mateo County.
This fee will be invested in a dedicated workforce retraining fund to help people who lose their jobs due to automation learn new skills and find new employment opportunities. In other words, some of the social costs of robot deployment will be borne by businesses if they choose to pay to deal with the employment impacts of automation.
At present, this regulation has not yet officially entered into force. The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors still needs to complete the final approval process, and once officially adopted, the ordinance is expected to begin implementation in 30 days.
The reason why San Mateo County is concerned about the employment issues caused by robots is related to the rapid entry of autonomous robots into actual work environments in recent years. Warehousing and manufacturing already use a large number of robots to handle dangerous and repetitive tasks, and with the continuous development of artificial intelligence and robotics technology, the application scope of these robots is further expanding from traditional industries.
Amazon has been using large numbers of robots in its warehouses for years. The field of automobile manufacturing has also begun to try to deploy humanoid robots. For example, BMW has announced plans to use humanoid robots developed by Figure in its factories. Hyundai Motor Group's plans to deploy humanoid robots also raised concerns among labor unions about the impact on employment.
Japan Airlines is also testing humanoid robots at Tokyo Haneda Airport, allowing the robots to assist with baggage handling and other tasks. As robots are able to complete more and more tasks that were performed by humans in the past, how to improve production efficiency while dealing with the employment problem of employees replaced by automation is becoming a new issue that local governments need to face.
The scope of this policy currently mainly targets robots with autonomous operation capabilities, rather than all ordinary industrial automation equipment. As defined in the proposal, robots would need to include rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, cameras or sensors and have a degree of autonomous operation, and the work area would need to be accessible to employees or the public.
At the same time, the employment impact that artificial intelligence itself may bring has also received increasing attention. Compared with robots that can directly perform physical work, generative artificial intelligence and AI software can already handle large amounts of text, customer service, data analysis and other office tasks, so its impact on the job market may be broader.
Just this month, there was a rather special "humanoid robot protest" in Poland. A swarm of humanoid robots appeared outside the country's Ministry of Digital Affairs, appearing to demand greater government regulation of artificial intelligence and automation to protect human jobs. But in fact, this was not a protest initiated by robots independently, but a demonstration event planned by a labor organization to demonstrate the technological level that humanoid robots can achieve today and to call attention to the potential impact of automation on employment.
The system proposed by San Mateo County this time attempts to intervene from the source of the deployment of robots by enterprises. While allowing enterprises to use automation to improve production efficiency, it also allows enterprises to consider the resulting employment impact in advance. If ultimately implemented, this may also become an important attempt by U.S. local governments to establish specific employment protection mechanisms for robotic automation.
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