British bosses use artificial intelligence to monitor staff

UK businesses are using artificial intelligence to monitor staff behaviour minute-to-minute, reports The Guardian.

The actions of 130,000 employees in the UK and abroad are being scrutinised by the Isaak system, which ranks staff members by gathering intricate data on their work and interactions.

It can show managers how collaborative workers are and whether they are “influencers” or “change-makers”. It is able to compare activity data with qualitative assessments of workers from personnel files or sales performance figures.

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Trade unions fear the system will increase pressure on workers. The TUC’s general secretary, Frances O’Grady, said: “This kind of high-tech snooping creates fear and distrust.” She added that it undermines morale and “could do businesses more harm than good”.

Another critic, Ursula Huws, professor of labour and globalisation at the University of Hertfordshire, said: “If performance targets are being fine-tuned by artificial intelligence and your progress towards them being measured by artificial intelligence, that will only multiply the pressure.” She added that there are risks to mental health if people don’t feel free to take breaks.

Commentators say systems like the Isaak are part of a burgeoning “precision economy”, in which more and more aspects of the working day will be measured. Future artificial intelligence ideas that are being developed include the use of mood monitoring at work, and the recording of a worker’s location on wearable devices and monitoring of keyboard strokes.

The Royal Society of Arts predicts that within 15 years, workers in retail and hospitality will be tracked for time spent inactive. There are fears that in the growing gig economy this could leave many without work.

Ankur Modi, the chief executive of Status Today which designed the Isaak system, said it aims to provides a “wellbeing analysis” and can detect overwork. But he admitted: “there’s always a risk that it might be misused”.