IThere is a vast literature concerning the consequences of the development of artificial intelligence (AI) on employment, ranging from the most pessimistic to the most delighted publications. While most of the frightening predictions announcing the disappearance of jobs have so far been denied – like those of American economists Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael Osborne, who indicated, in 2013, that automation could lead to the disappearance of half of American jobs in one or two decades – things could be different in the years to come.
A study of the research department of the International Labor Organization published in August shows that under certain conditions (in particular reinforced social dialogue), the diffusion of AI could create jobs, but that significant risks weighed on the employment of women in high-income countries.
But it is undoubtedly the effects of the development of AI on human work itself, more than on employment, which deserve the greatest attention. For several years, numerous researches have highlighted the high speed diffusion of “algorithmic management”, that is to say the management of human behavior and work relations using instructions. encapsulated in software. For example, VTC drivers or bicycle delivery people who use digital platform applications see their journey guided and analyzed by an algorithm, which encourages the adoption of certain behaviors and can generate sanctions such as disconnection.
“Black boxes”
But neither the drivers nor the bicycle delivery people are aware of the criteria used: they have been demanding access to these “black boxes” for a long time. The directive proposed by the European Commission in December 2021 provides several essential advances for those who work via digital platforms, including a presumption of employment, better transparency of algorithms and the right to challenge automated decisions. But it faces fierce lobbying from the platforms.
If it aims to supervise and monitor the behavior of those whose work is guided by digital applications, the mobilization of algorithms does not stop there. Researchers Valerio De Stefano and Simon Taes show that algorithmic management not only generates control of workers on a scale that would have been unthinkable a few years ago, but also the collection and processing of considerable quantities of personal data relating to their life and their work (“ Algorithmic management and collective bargaining », European Trade Union Institute Foresight Notes No. 10, May 2021).
You have 51.19% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.