Welder turned lawmaker sees a nuclear bomb for work and a chance to help blue collar Americans

Before AI threatened to reshape the kind of blue-collar work he once did, Rep.Riley Moore was a welder on an Appalachian mining operation.

Now, as the technology races into the workplace, Moore argues it could make workers like him safer and more productive rather than replace them.The West Virginia Republican has taken that message to the Teamsters and other labor stakeholders as Congress and businesses grapple with how quickly AI should reshape the workplace and how much of a role government should play amid economic and national security concerns."I started my career off as a welder and I come from a blue-collar background, not just myself, my mother's family [were] all welders actually.AI represents a massive potential for positive advancements in manufacturing.

But it also represents potentially the nuclear bomb for work as we know it in the world," Moore said in an exclusive interview Monday with Fox News Digital.Representing a state still closely tied to mining and manufacturing, Moore has taken his message to the Teamsters and other labor stakeholders, arguing that AI should become a "force-multiplier" for workers rather than simply replace them.WATCH: AMERICANS WARN AI WILL TAKE JOBS DESPITE REASSURING LABOR DATA: ‘JUST WAIT’Volunteers hand out yard signs against a data center complex in Canaan Valley on June 30, 2025, after a public meeting organized by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection regarding an air quality permit application for a gas-fired power plant near Davis, W.Va.(ULYSSE BELLIER/AFP via Getty Images)Moore said he leans toward finding the "positives" in AI development and that, if the technology can complement blue-collar labor rather than replace it, it could be a game-changer for the U.S.

economy and its workers."I think AI certainly has the ability to extend the longevity of a worker in a particular trade.It can also make those jobs safer.

It can extend the timeperiod in which somebody can work without injury.An...