Research from Cornell University indicates that organizations utilizing AI for monitoring employee behavior and productivity may face increased complaints, lower productivity, and higher turnover rates unless the technology is positioned as a tool for personal development.
A study shows that surveillance tools lead individuals to perceive a greater loss of autonomy when compared to oversight by humans. Employers should be mindful of the unintended effects of using rapidly evolving technologies to assess employee behavior, as it can result in resistance and decreased performance. The key lies in presenting surveillance tools as aids for improvement rather than mere judgment, which employees fear may lack context and accuracy.
Emily Zitek, an associate professor of organizational behavior, emphasizes the importance of implementing artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies for developmental purposes to facilitate learning and performance enhancement. The issue arises when evaluations are perceived as data-driven and devoid of context, stripping individuals of the ability to interpret the feedback.
The study, “Algorithmic Versus Human Surveillance Leads to Lower Perceptions of Autonomy and Increased Resistance,” co-authored by Zitek and Rachel Schlund, involved nearly 1,200 participants across four experiments. Results indicated that individuals felt less autonomy and exhibited more resistance behaviors under AI surveillance compared to human monitoring.
Participants tasked with brainstorming ideas for a theme park demonstrated lower performance when monitored by AI, with more participants criticizing AI surveillance than human monitoring. The researchers also observed that individuals monitored by AI generated fewer ideas, highlighting a negative impact on performance.
In scenarios where participants believed their calls in a call center were being analyzed by AI or humans for performance evaluation or developmental feedback, those in the developmental feedback group perceived AI surveillance as less intrusive and did not express a higher intention to quit.
Zitek emphasizes the need for organizations to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of implementing surveillance technologies and suggests framing them as developmental tools or enabling employees to contextualize the feedback. Maintaining autonomy is crucial for employee satisfaction and overall success.
