Forget the AI job apocalypse. AI's real threat is worker control and surveillance

"A third of UK employers are already using bossware technology to monitor workers' online activity. This already prevalent worker surveillance is a glimpse of what is yet to come. This is why the question of whether AI is good or bad is pointlessly crude. The truth is more nuanced. Employers are using AI to empower some workers while subjecting others to more intensive, inhumane forms of oversight."

AI affects work beyond job loss by creating a growing divide between people who use AI to extend skills and people whose working lives are shaped by opaque AI surveillance and control. In higher-paid, higher-autonomy roles, AI can function like a copilot by supporting human judgment, speeding routine tasks, and freeing time for creative thinking. In many other roles, AI operates as a boss through scheduling, monitoring, route optimization, and automated performance dashboards. These systems determine shifts, task timing, and whether workers meet maximum capacity. Worker surveillance is already widespread, including bossware that monitors online activity, signaling more intensive oversight ahead. The impact is uneven, empowering some while tightening control over others.

Read at www.theguardian.com