Workplace AI, robots harm employee well-being: UK study

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM — A new study from the Institute for the Future of Work has found that exposure to artificial intelligence (AI), robots, and tracking devices in the workplace negatively impacts employees’ quality of life.
The think tank surveyed nearly 5,000 people to analyze the effect of three increasingly prevalent technology categories on worker well-being.
The study revealed that interaction with AI and machine learning software, wearable trackers, and robotics correlated with worse health and well-being.
In contrast, more established tools like laptops, tablets, smartphones, and instant messaging had a positive impact.
The authors suggested that “such technologies may exacerbate job insecurity, workload intensification, [routinization] and loss of work meaningfulness, as well as disempowerment and loss of autonomy, all of which detract from overall employee wellbeing.”
This morning we are excited to be publishing a ground-breaking new study led by @magsoffia and @JSkordis for the Pissarides Review – funded by @NuffieldFound – into how exposure to technology is interacting with workers' quality of life and wellbeing. https://t.co/qi6likAJ0l pic.twitter.com/YVGYY6GgRP
— Institute for the Future of Work (@FutureWorkInst) March 13, 2024
Lead author and sociologist Magdalena Soffia emphasized that the context and implementation of the technologies, rather than the tools themselves, likely drive the negative outcomes.
“We don’t want to claim that there is some sort of determinism in what technology causes, in terms of wellbeing,” she said.
“We say it really depends on the context: on lots of structural factors, on environmental conditions, how it is designed and how it is deployed. So lots of human decisions.”
The study used the EuroQoL EQ-5D-3L, a validated measure of quality of life that assesses factors like mobility, mental health, and pain levels.
“Our work and our wellbeing – individually and corporately – are interconnected, and as the future of work is impacted by new technologies, so we must pay due attention to wellbeing impacts at work,” the report said.
Goldman Sachs economists have warned that AI could automate 300 million jobs out of existence by 2030.