Big information and AI: They improve inequality between workplace staff and blue-collar staff | EUROtoday

Status: 01:03 am | Reading time: 2 minutes

DDigitalization can hurt the well being of workers and improve inequalities. This is the conclusion of a examine by the Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in cooperation with the colleges in Konstanz and Edinburgh.

The examine is predicated on survey and social safety information from round 3,200 workers between 2011 and 2019 and is obtainable solely to WELT AM SONNTAG.

New digital applied sciences within the office due to this fact have completely different results on the well being of various teams of workers. While so-called white-collar staff – primarily workplace staff – usually tend to profit, blue-collar staff – individuals who primarily do bodily work – are at a drawback.

The motive: The use of digital applied sciences such because the Internet of Things, synthetic intelligence (AI) or huge information results in larger work complexity, time stress and efficiency stress.

The examine discovered that this growth would result in a deterioration within the well being of staff who carry out handbook duties and a rise in sick days. However, there was no impact on workers who carried out knowledge-intensive duties.

However, even earlier than the introduction of recent applied sciences, staff had been in poorer well being than workers, explains Oliver Schlenker, economist at ZEW and co-author of the examine. These variations have now elevated because of digitalization.

According to Schlenker, workers who’ve had little contact with technological change and the elevated complexity of their work are significantly burdened by this. The scientists due to this fact advocate focused coaching and a supportive company tradition.

“If no action is taken, digitalization will promote existing inequalities,” says co-author Melanie Arntz. “New generation AIs, such as ChatGPT, are being used more and more.”

This makes it all of the extra necessary to take countermeasures at an early stage. Poor well being in the end impacts productiveness and due to this fact revenue in the long run.