Technology has played a major part in helping companies improve performance and boost productivity, and artificial intelligence (AI) looks set to find even greater efficiencies—though perhaps at a higher human cost.

There have long been concerns about the impact AI-based systems can have in the workplace. In recent years, companies have run afoul of regulators by using AI tools for monitoring performance to the point of surveillance.

In 2021, food delivery companies Deliveroo and Foodinho were each fined by Italy’s data protection authority because their apps’ algorithmic rating systems—which used mathematical formulas to prioritize or penalize riders depending on how many jobs they accepted, fulfilled, completed on time, or rejected—were allegedly biased and violated the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) principles around transparency and lawfulness of processing.