About ILO
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is devoted to promoting social justice and internationally recognized human and labour rights, pursuing its founding mission that social justice is essential to universal and lasting peace.Only tripartite U.N. agency, the ILO brings together governments, employers and workers representatives of 187 member States, to set labour standards, develop policies and devise programmes promoting decent work for all women and men.
Activities by ILO
Digital Labour Platform Tracker
Global AustraliaAustriaBelgiumCanadaChileChinaCroatiaDenmarkFranceGermanyGreeceIndiaIndonesiaItalyKazakhstanKenyaMaltaPortugalRepublic of KoreaSingaporeSpainSwitzerlandTanzaniaThailandUnited StatesUruguayThis policy tracker aims to provide a comprehensive overview of global policies, legislation, collective bargaining agreements, and judicial decisions related to digital labour platforms. It is designed to serve as a practical resource for governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations, policymakers’, researchers, and anyone interested in understanding the policy developments in this area. Currently, the tracker focuses on legislative developments worldwide, and includes collective bargaining agreements which are publically available in Europe. The tracker will further develop the collective bargaining argeements in other regions as well as the judicial decisions. The tracker will be regularly updated as new regulations, agreements, and decisions emerge. Please refer to the links provided for detailed information and source materials, related to legislations and collective bargaining agreements.
Activity Type Policy/Regulatory GuidanceAI and jobs. A review of theory, estimates, and evidence
Global Not ApplicableGenerative AI is altering work processes, task composition, and organizational design, yet its effects on employment and the macroeconomy remain unresolved. In this review, we synthesize theory and empirical evidence at three levels. First, we trace the evolution from aggregate production frameworks to task- and expertise-based models. Second, we quantitatively review and compare (ex-ante) AI exposure measures of occupations from multiple studies and find convergence towards high-wage jobs. Third, we assemble ex-post evidence of AI's impact on employment from randomized controlled trials (RCTs), field experiments, and digital trace data (e.g., online labor platforms, software repositories), complemented by partial coverage of surveys. Across the reviewed studies, productivity gains are sizable but context-dependent: on the order of 20 to 60 percent in controlled RCTs, and 15 to 30 percent in field experiments. Novice workers tend to benefit more from LLMs in simple tasks. Across complex tasks, evidence is mixed on whether low or high-skilled workers benefit more. Digital trace data show substitution between humans and machines in writing and translation alongside rising demand for AI, with mild evidence of declining demand for novice workers. A more substantial decrease in demand for novice jobs across AI complementary work emerges from recent studies using surveys, platform payment records, or administrative data. Research gaps include the focus on simple tasks in experiments, the limited diversity of LLMs studied, and technology-centric AI exposure measures that overlook adoption dynamics and whether exposure translates into substitution, productivity gains, erode or increase expertise.
Activity Type Research/Reports/AssessmentsModernizing ISCO revision with AI
Asia and the Pacific SingaporeThe ILO Department of Statistics is exploring advanced NLP and machine-learning techniques to keep the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) current. An AI-augmented pipeline automates the heavy lifting, surfacing new emerging occupations and aligning them with ISCO’s global framework.
Activity Type Research/Reports/AssessmentsTechnical assistanceUNESCO High-level discussion on AI in the audio-visual industry (2023)
GlobalA high-level discussion on AI in the audio-visual industry that brought together film stakeholders and AI experts to voice diverse perspectives on the challenges and opportunities presented by AI in the cultural and creative sectors. Recommendations from the discussion highlighted the need for inclusive and participatory international guidelines and standards that are human-centered.
Activity Type Research/Reports/AssessmentsPolicy/Regulatory GuidanceNetworks/Mentorship/Exchange