Labor Day is coming up, and to celebrate, the Trump administration’s Labor Department recently published a blog post heralding the accomplishments of the American worker while subtly giving us a peek at their vision for the future of the American workforce.
“On Labor Day, we pause to recognize the achievements, contributions, and sacrifices of the hardworking men and women who have carried on the American Dream for future generations,” the post said.
When the post first went up a few days ago, it included an image of what appeared, upon first glance, to be a welder. The Daily Beast did some digging, however, and found that the image that the government had used was an AI-generated picture sourced from Adobe, dubbed “American Welder at Work Sparks Fly Patriotism Metal Fabrication Industry.”
Not long after the original blog post was published, the website was subsequently updated, and the picture was changed to what appears to be a real human worker doing real human work. The Wayback Machine, however, still shows the original image.
So, the Trump administration apparently thinks so much of America’s workers that it can’t even take the time to find a real picture of one for its Labor Day promo. That tracks, given that the same administration also has dense ties to the AI industry, which, as far as anyone can tell, is mostly focused on automating away jobs in various fields, thus leading to the replacement, not employment, of American workers.
Gizmodo reached out to the Labor Department for comment and will update this story when we receive a response.
Trump has always espoused support for America’s blue-collar cadres, while representing the interests of organizations and people whose policies are harmful to that very demographic. Trump has also promised a “Golden Age” in the U.S. that “puts American workers first.” However, the economy doesn’t appear to be in a very good place right now, and, much like the AI-generated worker that formerly adorned the government’s website, its gains may be largely illusory.
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