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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Technology
Nazrul Islam

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

A figure being surveilled by eyes in screens
For some, AI can help remove the drudgery from daily work. For many others, though, AI is not an assistant. It is a boss. Illustration: Ben Hickey/The Guardian

The real danger that artificial intelligence poses to work is not just job loss – it is the growing divide between people who use AI to extend their skills and those whose working lives are increasingly shaped by opaque, AI-powered systems of surveillance and control.

The debate about artificial intelligence and how it will affect workers is stuck in the wrong place. On one side are warnings that machines are coming for millions of jobs. On the other are claims that AI will turbocharge productivity. Both stories miss what is already happening in workplaces across the world, from Britain to Kenya to the United States.

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