Americans weigh in on robots that read their work messages
The days of office water cooler conversations are over.
Online chats between employees have increased since the work-from-home movement. Remote workers should be cautious when chatting on keyboards, as new reports suggest that artificial intelligence can snoop into messages.
A.I. software developed by a startup is reportedly being used to monitor employee chats on messaging apps at several companies including Walmart, Delta Airlines, T-Mobile, and Starbucks. Aware is a company.
The software “Aware” is said to scan platforms such as Slack and Microsoft Teams, looking for keywords that could indicate employee dissatisfaction or safety risks.
The company claims to have already analyzed up to 20 billion messages sent by more than 3,000,000 employees.
Walmart AI Starbucks
In a controversial move, major companies such as Walmart and Starbucks are now using artificial intelligence to monitor the messages of their employees.
“I’d feel, I don’t know, that they were just trying to get some information out of me or get me into trouble.” One woman said, “I don’t think it would be sneaky.”
I’ve personally seen A.I. “I’ve seen A.I. “That doesn’t foster a trusting business vibe,” argued another woman.
Some respondents, however, were not as concerned by the idea.
One man said, “I’m okay with it because I am very careful about what I do when I’m on company time or company property.”
Slack, one of the most popular messaging apps for business, has published statistics showing that more than 100,000 companies use the tool.
Slack’s website reads: “The work-from-anywhere model is here for good,” before listing clients like IBM, Target Time, Airbnb, and T-Mobile.
Microsoft Teams’ digital footprint is even bigger, with over 280 million monthly users. They are the most popular platform for business communication.
