In recent years, the technologies used to surveil workers have become more sophisticated and widespread.
While many workers worry that artificial intelligence will one day take their jobs, another use of A.I. and technology may already be quietly reshaping and degrading workplace conditions: “bossware.”
“Bossware” refers to the technology some managers use to supervise and surveil employees in the workplace. The term was popularized by a 2020 report from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital privacy nonprofit, and has since come up in nonprofit reports and news coverage.
“Workplace surveillance has been going on since we’ve had work,” said Karen Levy, a professor at Cornell and the author of “Data Driven: Truckers, Technology, and the New Workplace Surveillance.” Managers have always sought to keep an eye on employees to make operations more efficient. But the rise of A.I., she said, has allowed employers to monitor workers in “more predictive or granular ways.”
How it’s pronounced
/bäs-wer/
In the world of trucking, for example, A.I.-augmented video tools can trigger real-time alerts if a driver looks fatigued or is looking away from the road. In other fields —including in some white-collar desk jobs — employers are using algorithmic and biometric tools to track habits and output. Some of the tools, including A.I.-driven ones, are packaged with enterprise software suites.
