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The use of artificial intelligence, robots and activity meters in the workplace has a negative impact on the quality of life
A major study by the Institute for the Future of Work from London shows that exposure to new technologies, such as activity monitors, robots and artificially intelligent software, has a negative impact on the quality of people's lives. Several participated in the research; than 6,000 people, and the researchers were mainly interested in the impact of four groups of technologies, which are becoming more and more popular, on human life.
The authors of the research found that the more employees are exposed to three of these categories – software based on artificial intelligence and machine learning technology, monitoring devices such as activity monitors and robotics – the worse their health and overall A new feeling. On the other hand, the longer use of ICT technologies such as laptops, tablets and communication applications at the workplace showed a more positive impact on the well-being of the research participants.
"We found that with a greater frequency of use and interaction of ICT technology, the quality of life increases, while it decreases with a greater frequency of use of newer technologies at the workplace.", they wrote in the research report. Although the authors did not directly investigate the causes, they pointed out that their results are in line with the findings of previous research, which showed that "new technologies of this type can cause uncertainty regarding job security, increase workload, lead to routinization and loss of sense of the importance of the work performed, and there can also be a loss of autonomy, and all this affects the general well-being of employees".
Economists at Goldman Sachs estimate that by 2030, 300 million jobs could disappear worldwide due to automation. Mainly due to the rapid development of generative artificial intelligence, much more roles and jobs will change radically, they say.
dr. Magdalena Soffia, the main author of the research, says that the problem is not necessarily the technology itself, butÄ the manner in which it is used. "We do not want to claim that there is some kind of determinism in the ways in which technology affects human feelings. We argue that everything depends on the context: on many structural factors, environmental conditions, how it is designed and how it is used. So a lot of human decisions", says Dr. Sophia.
As an additional explanation, she offered the explanation that the researchers used the very widely accepted EuroQoL EQ-5D-3L quality of life measurement model in this study. This covers factors such as mobility, mental health and level of pain. "We wanted to capture a more multidimensional view of what is happening in terms of quality of life. That's why we used this model, which is approved by the public health sector in the UK", she added.
Why does the slightly more "classical" ICT have a positive effect on a person's life? Soffia sees one of the potentially possible mechanisms in this area, which helps facilitate work processes and, as a result, raise the level of efficiency. This raises people's sense of achievement.
Quite the opposite is evident in the field of activity meters and other control technology. For example, trade unions have been warning for some time about the negative effects of this technology on the efficiency of employees.
Therefore, in response to this study, many experts point out the importance of regulating the field of artificial intelligence. Otherwise, we may reach a point where artificial intelligence turns the world of work into an oppressive and unhealthy world.
