It is not for the first time in modern history that workers are worried that machines or a new technology will render them obsolete and outdated. However, it is for the first time that research is being done aptly to know if a new technology or method of working (startups, work from home, gig economy) will have any impact on health.
Working with AI systems may disrupt health in future like never imagined, and everyone concerned with worker health and wellness must be aware of these.
Mechanization has been controversial since the start of Industrial Revolution (around 1720 AD). Machines improved productivity and raised incomes, but the workers perceived it as a threat to make them jobless, to lower their wages and to divert all the gains from growth to the owners of businesses. All these factors led the stocking-frame operators of Nottingham, UK (the Luddites) to damage the improved knitting machines that threatened their jobs. The workers also burnt the first mills housing spinning and weaving equipment in the 1760s.
It is also important to remember that a technological change affects future of different trades differently.
Today, the workers don’t destroy industries, instead they ask for their dues, health care in general and specifically health protection due to the work they perform, being a few of them. Most business owners are considerate to their dues. It is only in the unorganized industries that workers are treated unfairly – and here both business owners and governments should act appropriately to avoid any major disruptions in work in future.
It is also important to remember that a technological change affects future of different trades differently. For example, In 1820, during the Industrial Revolution, the future of work for the wife of a farm laborer in England was not a happy one. This is because with the advent of spinning looms she had lost the opportunity to increase her family’s income by spinning part-time, like her mother had done. The same was the fate of a farmer’s wife in the deltas of Ganges (river Ganga) in India.
Recent research has found that people working with AI systems can develop insomnia, feel lonely, or even drink excessively after work.
However, some British women got to work in the cotton mills and these were more than that had been employed to spin cotton by hand. And during the same time, the future of work was bright for some trades – railway engineers, bricklayers, metal workers, etc. Also, a large number of middle-class entrepreneurs and professionals found huge success as they led the industrial economy.
Lately, there is a talk about AI (artificial intelligence) taking away jobs. That may be a bit premature – and instead of asking how AI will affect work or workers in future, one should ask what did the invention of the textile mill mean for a girl growing up in Manchester, UK, in 1800 or the wife of a poor rice farmer in the deltas of Ganges (river Ganga) in India at the same time. A new technology, AI for example, will affect futures of work very differently and often detrimentally. Something that we are witnessing now.
With this background, in this article, we will discuss if AI is affecting the health of the worker and how.
Recent research has found that people working with AI systems can develop insomnia, feel lonely, or even drink excessively after work.
The study that was published online on June 12 in the Journal of Applied Psychology, noted that these findings do not prove that working with AI systems causes loneliness or other responses; it is just that they are associated.
A new technology, AI for example, will affect futures of work very differently and often detrimentally. Something that we are witnessing now.
“The rapid advancement in AI systems is sparking a new industrial revolution that is reshaping the workplace with many benefits but also some uncharted dangers, including potentially damaging mental and physical impacts for employees,” said lead researcher Pok Man Tang, an assistant professor of management at the University of Georgia.
“Humans are social animals, and isolating work with AI systems may have damaging spillover effects into employees’ personal lives,” Tang said in a journal news release.
The researchers found that working with AI systems can have some benefits too. For example, employees who use AI systems are more likely to be helpful to fellow workers, but this could be due to loneliness and the need for social outlet, Tang’s team said.
Those who felt insecure and worried about social connections (attachment anxiety), reported that working with AI systems made them more likely to help others. This is because they suffered from loneliness and insomnia.
In an experiment, 166 engineers at a Taiwanese company working with AI systems were asked about their feelings of loneliness, attachment anxiety and sense of belonging. Those who worked more often with AI systems were more likely to experience loneliness, insomnia and increased after-work alcohol consumption. These workers also showed helping behaviours toward fellow workers.
Similar experiments in USA, Indonesia etc. pointed towards similar findings.
Tang was of the view that developers of AI should consider equipping AI systems with social features, such as a human voice, to mimic human-like interactions. Employers also could limit the frequency and duration of work with AI systems and offer opportunities for employees to socialize.
Working with AI systems may disrupt health in future like never imagined, and everyone concerned with worker health and wellness must be aware of these. Medico-legal cases may rise.
“Mindfulness programs and other positive interventions also might help relieve loneliness,” Tang said. “AI will keep expanding, so we need to act now to lessen the potentially damaging effects for people who work with these systems.”
As these are emerging concerns in worker health led by initial research, Occupational Health physicians employed in industries must have access to information regarding extent of use of AI systems or for that matter, any new technology or method of working.
When an Occupational Health (OH) physician identifies and reports that a worker working with AI systems is exhibiting loneliness or complaining of insomnia, the management must take steps as mentioned above to mitigate it. Taking timely steps may prevent many more workers working with AI systems in future to escape loneliness, insomnia or other serious health issues.
A lot of startups have workers who work with AI systems – startup owners must be aware of the possibility of AI systems affecting worker health and seek appropriate advice or take steps as mentioned above to mitigate it.
Actions must be taken once business owners are aware of them, as ignoring or postponing to take action may lead to deterioration of worker health and loss of productivity.
Working with AI systems may disrupt health in future like never imagined, and everyone concerned with worker health and wellness must be aware of these. Medico-legal cases may rise. The management must take appropriate steps once alerted by the OH physician of the possibility that workers working with AI systems may have health issues that can reduce productivity.
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Dr Ajay Sati is an Occupational Health physician who prefers to describe himself as an Occupationist, to denote, ‘an expert in diseases and other concerns of occupations’. Dr Sati has managed health and wellness programs in industries he worked, like the atomic energy, and energy (oil & gas) in India and overseas. An experienced virtual consultation expert he was involved in many greenfield and brownfield projects providing inputs from health point of view.
