The increased use of artificial intelligence in workplace management tasks can impact workers’ mental and social well-being, a working paper from the International Labour Organization (ILO) has suggested.
Released to coincide with International Workers’ Day (1 May), the paper notes that while AI technologies can improve efficiency and productivity, they can also raise psychosocial risks for employees, through increased ‘workplace surveillance, work intensification, reduced job autonomy, and concerns around privacy and data use’.
Full employment cycle
As the paper notes, AI technologies are now increasingly being used across the full employment cycle, such as recruitment, monitoring and performance management, and reshaping how work is planned, organised and managed.
The growing role of data-driven monitoring, combined with a lack of transparency in algorithmic decision-making processes, can leave workers feeling detached from day-to-day operations, the ILO noted – a factor that is not always adequately captured within occupational safety and health frameworks.
This is prompting some legislators to consider addressing AI’s role in the workplace through regulatory measures, although this has yet to materialise at a substantial level.
‘Integrated policy approach’
‘To date, there is no comprehensive legislation that specifically addresses AI-related changes to the world of work – this paper stresses that addressing risks generated by digital technologies would require an integrated policy approach,’ the ILO said. ‘This includes combining labour and employment regulation with occupational safety and health, equality and non-discrimination, and data protection frameworks.
‘By discussing how AI is affecting the psychosocial work environment, the paper aims to support policymakers in developing responses that protect workers’ well-being while managing technological change.’
The paper was written by Tahmina Karimova, a lawyer specialised in public international law, sustainable development, labour law and human rights law.
Read the full paper, AI systems @ work: a changing psychosocial work environment, here.
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