The Co-op has become the latest employer to place workers under AI surveillance with an automated listening technology that rates every phone call some of them make to customers. In a system described as “oppressive and dystopian” by a whistleblower, Co-op Legal Services is using AI models to record, analyse and award a percentage score for interactions between agents and customers seeking advice about probate, wills and estates. A model from OpenAI has been trained to assess more than 50 discrete aspects of each phone call and provide pass and fail scores to managers who use the data to analyse employee performance.
One worker said the system can mean their work is monitored by AI for several hours a day as they handle inquiries often from recently bereaved customers. It comes after the Guardian last week revealed Euan Blair’s AI training company, Multiverse, has started using an AI for blanket monitoring of online classroom sessions, which teachers called “remorseless” and “unnerving”, while Multiverse said it was “using AI to improve the experience of learners and customers”. Experts have voiced fears that increasing AI monitoring of workers risks increasing stress.
It’s the thin end of the wedge.” The Co-op, which operates supermarkets, undertakers, insurance and legal services companies, said it did not recognise the criticism and said its probate advisers were highly engaged. It said it supported colleagues with AI, which is a “key aspect of our quality assurance processes” and helps ensure “our clients consistently receive empathetic expert guidance”. The AI monitoring is understood to have been introduced in the last couple of months into the work of dozens of legal services staff.
It is used in part to identify ways they can boost their sales performance. The Co-op said the AI is used solely as a support tool, is not a decision-maker, and helps leaders “support colleagues and continuously improve the experience we provide to clients”. Trade unions have begun pushing back against the spread of AI monitoring.
In February Burger King in the US announced it would be using the technology to track restaurant workers’ customer interactions, and this summer, Meta paused tracking of employees’ computer keystrokes amid data privacy concerns and a staff backlash. It will be interesting to see how it develops and how much managers need to adjust their approach.” This year, the International Labour Organization warned about the “psychosocial” risks of AI monitoring, including increasing work-related stress. AI helps us deliver that more consistently, while human judgment, accountability, care and kindness remain at the heart of every client relationship.”
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