The analyst firm Gartner has predicted that by 2023, 10% of workers will try to trick artificial intelligence (AI) systems deployed by their employers that aim to track their behaviour and productivity. It said that due to the coronavirus pushing the need for remote working, employers are also turning to AI to ensure work is being done through the day.
In a warning to businesses seeking to deploy this type of technology, Whit Andrews from Gartner said:
“IT leaders who are considering deploying AI-enabled productivity monitoring tools should take a close look at the data sources, user experience design and the initial use case intended for these tools before investing. Determine whether the purpose and scope of data collection supports employees doing their best work. For those that do decide to invest, ensure that the technology is being implemented ethically by testing it against a key set of human-centric design principles.”
Unsurprisingly, the use of tracking technologies to monitor productivity are not very popular with workers. Gartner’s data already shows that people feared tracking technologies that seemed inevitable before the pandemic and now they’re here on a more widespread scale a “high percentage” of workers don’t like the idea of being tracked.
The firm pointed to the ride-sharing industry as an example of what’s to come in other fields of employment as they switch to become digital-first. It said that AI can be tricked into generating false or confusing data and that some ride-share drivers work for two different services at the same time as a way to boost their earnings. Additionally, Gartner said that workers will evade AI systems by finding metrics that do not capture activity or where accountability is unclear.