11 September 2016 (11:47 UTC-07 Tango 01) 21 Shahrivar 1395/08 Dhu I-Hijja 1437/11 Ding-You 4714
“….what does this mean about the employee and employer relationship that they need to be so closely monitored? What does it say about the sense of trust or respect?”-Elise Gould, Economic Policy Institute
Hitachi calls it Human Big Data
Soon your nagging first line supervisor could be replaced with a nagging AI boss, in the form of a name tag-dog tag worn around your neck.
Japan based Hitachi is testing a new artificial intelligence ‘boss’ under the guise of “tracking employee happiness”. Hitachi is not the first company to do so, many companies are testing such big brotherisms all under the guise of making sure their employees are happy. But news reports out of Japan reveal the truth behind these AI bosses; the tiny computers will be able to boss you around through your smartphone or tablet (apparently employees working for companies employing the big brother-sister technology will get “advice” on how to better do their jobs, sent to them in their off-time)!
Right now 6-hundred Hitachi employees are using the AI name tag ‘dog tags’ and are being commanded to do things like “you should talk to your colleagues more often.” Here in the United States that command will most likely be changed to ‘you talk too much, get back to work!’ The Hitachi prototype works by tracking every little thing that you do while on the job, not one microsecond of privacy!
In 2015, WARABLE published an article questioning how Hitachi’s AI program would determine ‘happiness’ by tracking “…how much you sit, stand, nod, type and walk around at work. ….and collects data on your movements an incredible 50 times a second throughout the day.” Back then Hitachi justified its efforts by claiming that sales at a test call center went up an incredible 34% on days that employees were “happy”.
U.S. farm equipment maker Deere is also testing similar devices, but they’ve been more accurately described as Motivation Metrics, in other words it’s not really about the happiness of the employee, but about how to get the employee to do more work. It also means the end of first line supervisor positions for humans.
According to Springbuk Health Analytics, a promoter of electronic ‘wearables’ in the workplace, 54% of employers would love to track every little thing that you do on their time!
Software company Salesforce claims that 86% of U.S. employers will ‘invest’ more into AI wearables this year! 40% of employers admitted it was not about employee happines, but about managing employee time and communications!
And now for something as old as ‘civilization’: Lawsuits. Already tracking device maker Fitbit has faced several lawsuits. In 2014 a lawsuit against Fitbit claimed that the wearable caused allergic skin reactions (many people have allergic reactions when certain metals are worn). Two lawsuits filed this year claim the heart rate data collected by Fitbit trackers (the second lawsuit also targets Apple) is not accurate, about 20 beats per minute off. Research by California State Polytechnic University-Pomona showed the fitness trackers actually became inaccurate once you started exercising (they were accurate when the person was at rest). Gee, whatever happened to checking your pulse the old fashioned way, with your finger?
Another lawsuit (filed in 2015) claims Fitbit’s sleep tracker is wrong as well. Gee, are people so disconected and/or whacked on prescription drugs they can’t tell when they’re asleep and when they’re awake?
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