You are being watched: how employers use AI to spy on you
Employee monitoring is probably one of the most controversial topics I’ve encountered in my practice. There are always two sides with completely opposite views on the matter. On one side, you have a company willing to make sure that its employees are doing what they paid for. On the other side, you have employees who might have different opinions about this.
The right balance
It’s always about the right balance between those objectives — having some sort of control, but not too much. And it seems that it is extremely hard to achieve that perfect balance. More than that, each side can go to the extremes — employers who try to track everything clearly cross the line (and sometimes the law), as well as employees applying all sorts of techniques to “play the system.”
With the start of the “working from home” era, the sales of so-called “mouse jugglers” skyrocketed. A mouse juggler is a gadget that makes your mouse move to create the impression that you are at your workplace, even if you are not.
There was a lot of media attention recently when a woman was fired after 18 years at the company. Her boss used keystroke technology to track her work at home, including checking the time when she started and finished work, how many times she used her keyboard, etc.
Also, employers often go too far with their monitoring initiatives, invading people’s privacy and doing more harm than good. Harvard Business Review found that monitored employees were substantially more likely to take unapproved breaks, damage or steal workplace property, purposefully work slowly, or not follow the rules in general.
AI will spy on you
While there is no shortage of software and tools to monitor employee performance, AI technology gives this topic another twist. And some of its applications are concerning, to say the least.
Tracking physical movements
In 2023, a video circulated in the media showed how a coffee shop could use AI to monitor and analyze the behavior of employees and customers. Based on this analysis, the manager can determine which workers are less efficient and penalize them. To be honest, as a customer, I would not feel comfortable sitting there as well.
I tracked the origin of this video, and it turned out that it was made by a company called NeuroSpot. Apart from tracking the employees and customers at coffee shops, NeuroSpot has a variety of other applications and tools. Among them are systems designed to track psychiatric patients’ attempts to leave facilities unattended, who enters the shopping areas, and what they carry in their bags.
Emotions monitoring
Another concern is that AI-powered tools already allow us to track human biological signals — like vocal tone, facial expressions, data from wearable devices, and how people use their computers.
Analysis of such data allows one to detect and predict how someone feels. Some industries already use emotion AI, including call centers, finance, banking, nursing, etc. There are reports that over 50% of large employers in the U.S. use emotion AI to track employees’ emotional condition. For example, call centers can monitor what and how their operators say and their tone of voice.
Employee messages and interactions
Aware is an AI company that specializes in analyzing employee messages in a corporate environment. It is reported that companies such as Walmart, Delta, T-Mobile, Chevron, and Starbucks are using its AI-powered technology.
The core of Aware’s product is a platform that analyzes internal company communication via Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom to understand employees’ sentiments and behavior. The system can read text and process images to identify bullying, harassment, discrimination, and noncompliance by employees. It also can determine which teams internally talk to each other more than others.
The company says that they do not track the individual names during such analysis, but they can use separate eDiscovery tools to flag certain employees in case of “risk behaviors that the client predetermines.” So, nothing is anonymous anymore, my friends.
Of course, it is natural that recent developments in AI technologies will sooner or later be applied to employee monitoring. After researching this topic, I have mixed feelings about certain use cases for AI. It is very easy for an employer with much more resources and influence over employees to cross that thin line when the fair use of these technologies is no longer proportionate. But again, there should always be a balance between the interests of employer and employee in such sensitive matters.
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