NSW workers experiencing surge in AI anxiety

Almost two in five workers in Australia’s most populous state believe the risks of AI outweigh the benefits.

A new survey conducted by Redbridge in January reveals that company use of artificial intelligence is driving employee anxiety. Integrated use in work practices, surveillance and rostering has caught union attention, prompting a call for state government attention.

Of the 1,507 interviewed workers, there is consistent anxiety around digital workplace systems and significant interest in their regulation, almost 70 per cent. Requirements for consultation, limits on invasive surveillance, transparency in algorithmic decision making and employer accountability were all points of interest.

This specificity represents how AI is no longer “some future, abstract threat to workers”, according to Unions NSW secretary Mark Morey.

He said: “More than three in 10 NSW workers are telling us the threat has already arrived, it is dangerously intensifying work, and they want politicians to act.”

According to worker unions, real instances of employee risk have been recorded, such as rideshare drivers that are instructed to make illegal manoeuvres, Woolworths warehouse workers being given unachievable targets through headsets, physical monitoring of Amazon employees through smart wristbands and infrared monitors and factory worker surveillance that marks bathroom breaks and even recognises the newspapers employees are holding.

Reportedly, automated systems have caused around three in 10 workers to be given unrealistic or unfair targets, and 30 per cent also report difficulty taking breaks for the same reason.

One in five reports this as a frequent occurrence.

As highlighted, AI-led surveillance is a major contributor to workplace anxiety, with almost a third of surveyed workers feeling that automation has led to intrusive observation, and almost a quarter reporting that AI systems are deciding rosters and shift allocation.

In addition, 29 per cent feel decisions have been made about their work that they could not understand or question and almost half of the surveyed NSW employees said they have very little or no say over how AI systems are introduced.

Only a third felt they had some or a lot of sway in these decisions.

Such issues have affected worker health and safety, according to NSW unions. Automated systems, Morey highlighted, “are degrading family life, income security and mental health”.

He said: “Workers deserve clear rules and protections.”

On the demand for government intervention, Morey said: “This is a rare issue where workers across industries, regions and political backgrounds agree.”

“They don’t want to stop technology, but they want it used fairly, safely and with human oversight.

“Any politician who obstructs reform will find themselves on the wrong side of public opinion.”