‘Black Mirror Turns Real’: AI Monitoring Software Flags 30-Second Breaks as Red Alerts for Managers

Viral News: As installing employee monitoring software in the devices of employees is becoming a norm across industries. A recent reddit post sheds light on the increasing use of AI to monitor employee activity. In the post a user shares a “pretty big” productivity monitoring software suite is capable of not only tracking keystrokes and programmes but also typing speed, the sites you visit, how many emails you send etc.

The person further claims the AI Software scrutinises every move of the employees including the creation of 'productivity graph' that serves 'red flags' to employees and eventually managers to fire them.

"Had the pleasure of sitting through a sales pitch for a pretty big "productivity monitoring" software suite this morning, "the redditor wrote.

"Here's the expected basics of what this application does: Full keylogging and mouse movement tracking. Takes a screenshot of your desktop every interval. Keeps track of the programs you open and how often, also standard. Creates real-time recordings and heat maps of where you click in any program," the user added.

The post took an even more interesting turn when it was revealed the software can allow the managers to group an individual into a "work category" along with their coworkers. The AI then creates a "productivity graph" from the "mouse movement data, where you click, how fast you type, how often you use backspace, the sites you visit, the programs you open, how many emails you send and compares all of this to your coworker's data in the same work category".

Further, the user stated if an employer is below a cutoff percentage they will be flagged.

“If you fall below a cutoff percentage (say you type slower than your colleague or take longer to fill out a form or have to answer a phone call in the middle of writing an email), you get a red flag for review that gets sent to your manager and whoever else they choose,” the Reddit user explained.

These red flags can be generated for any productivity gaps, perceived or otherwise. For example, if your desktop is idle for more than 30 to 60 seconds, you get a red flag.

If your workflow is consistent Monday to Thursday but falls below the set aggregate data score on a Friday, you get a red flag

The software company claims that it can also use the data it gathers for "workflow efficiency automation" while simultaneously selling AI automation services, raising more concerns on Reddit about AI replacing jobs.

The reddit post has gone viral and raised several concerns.

"This basically happens already. When I worked for Apple Support they give you like 3 minutes of afk at your desk. At 5 minutes my manager is messaging me calling me. 10 minutes they remove your access. It was one of the lowest paying jobs I had and they worked you like crazy." a user wrote.
"AI won’t push us out of work through automation—but burnout." another user remarked.

A third user opined : "Wow was just listening in “age of surveillance” with AI now it’s more to help transparency of efficiently at work, or better workflow to automate those stuffs."

"guess we're all just rehearsing for our roles in black mirror season 7 at this point" a fourth comment read.

“Surveillance-based systems like this will backfire particularly when metrics are reductive and fail to capture nuanced human contributions,” another said.