MIT Sloan Management Review Article on Can Surveillance AI Make the Workplace Safe?

It’s possible to protect employees’ health and well-being by digitally monitoring their behavior, but how far should companies go? As the world recovers from the initial shock wave caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses are preparing for their transitions back to their physical workplaces. In most cases, they are opening up gradually, with an unprecedented focus on keeping workers safe as they return. To protect employees’ health and well-being, organizations must systematically reengineer their workspaces. This may include reconfiguring offices, rearranging desks, changing people’s shifts to minimize crowding, and allowing people to work remotely long term. Then there are the purely medical measures, such as regular temperature checks, the provision of face masks and other personal protective equipment, and even onsite doctors. Such precautions would have seemed extreme a short time ago but are quickly becoming accepted practices.