How would it protect consumers?
To protect consumers, the bill would mandate that call center workers immediately disclose their physical locations to callers, and disclose whether AI is being used. Also, customers would be able to request to be transferred to a U.S.-based call center, if they so desired, under the proposed piece of legislation.
“People want to have the option of speaking to a human or AI. This isn’t new —who hasn’t pressed zero repeatedly to try to skip the automated systems because they want to talk to a human? This is a consumer check people want to see,” Sen. Gallego told CBS MoneyWatch.
In addition to supporting domestic jobs, keeping call center work in the U.S. helps safeguard American consumers’ data, he said.
“We are concerned about what it means for American consumers if they’re not talking to a human based in the U.S., when it comes to security around their private information,” Sen. Gallego said.
On the topic of AI taking over work currently performed by humans, Gallego acknowledged that the technology will inevitably bring about some job displacement.
“There will be changes and AI will cause some unemployment,” he said. “We can’t stop it entirely.”
The senator added that he is not completely opposed to AI taking over some customer service work, either. “If someone has a really good experience with an AI bot, there won’t be a problem as long as that person knows they’re talking to AI versus to a human,” Gallego said.
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) endorsed the proposed bill.
“This much-needed legislation protects U.S. call center jobs and addresses the growing threats posed by artificial intelligence and offshoring,” (CWA) Director of Government Affairs, Dan Mauer said in a statement. “Historically, companies have offshored customer service jobs to avoid paying good union wages and benefits. Now companies are using AI to de-skill and speed up work and displace jobs, which undermines worker rights and degrades service quality for consumers.”