For one call center nurse, workplace artificial intelligence went beyond tracking calls to judging how compassionate she sounded.
She said "Emotion AI" repeatedly told her her voice didn't come across as soft or caring enough, showing employee surveillance is moving from activity tracking to emotional assessment.
Here's what to know
A TikTok video from media company More Perfect Union (@moreperfectunion) detailed how employers are using AI to monitor people in call centers, warehouses, delivery trucks, fast-food kitchens, and remote office jobs.
@moreperfectunion Bosses are using AI to spy on workers. One call center nurse tells us that "Emotion AI" is used at work to evaluate the way she talks, and tell her doesn't have enough empathy. Tech workers tell us AI is used to spy on them, copy their work, and train bots to replace them.
♬ original sound - More Perfect Union
In the video, call center nurse Sherry Shaw said she was included in what More Perfect Union described as an Emotion AI pilot program that scored how empathetic she sounded while working.
"I was like forever being told by this AI that my tone was wrong, that my voice didn't sound soft, it didn't sound engaging, it didn't sound like I cared," Shaw recalled.
Other examples in the video included a Burger King assistant called Patty that tells employees what to do, Amazon delivery-truck camera systems that note when drivers yawn, and warehouse algorithms that can fire workers.
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One commenter reacted: "I would live in a cardboard box under a bridge before I would work a job that monitors my emotions (or anything else) with AI."
More background
Shaw told More Perfect Union this kind of monitoring can pressure workers to speed up in ways that become unsafe.
"If they're worried about losing their job, they're gonna try to work faster," she explained. "And when they work faster, that's when they miss something. That's when patient care becomes unsafe."
To examine the technology firsthand, the video's narrator said the outlet downloaded "bossware," a type of software that spread widely during the COVID-19 pandemic and, in the narrator's words, "has persisted today."
The software labeled some legitimate job tasks — including time spent on bossware coverage and call center webinars — as unproductive, while also capturing "photos of me staring blankly at my screen" and flagging "arbitrary rules."
In one review of the data, the narrator found a "a dismal 65%" productivity score. During a product demo, a company representative said managers should use "the productivity trends" to identify low performers and said whether workers are told the software is installed is "optional."
What's being done?
More Perfect Union's video targeted the level of surveillance companies use, the AI's accuracy, and the possible lack of transparency from employers.
Commenters raised similar concerns. One said they "ended up quitting dominos because they made us install their tattler app on our phones," while another said companies seemed to be trying to regain control they felt they lost when remote work expanded after COVID shutdowns.
Shaw said the issue is bigger than awkward software feedback or a single low score.
"We're not robots, but they want us to act like robots," she said in the video.
Where can I learn more?
The same workplace AI tensions emerge from several angles, including tools that track workers' behavior, emotions, and performance.
• California moved to bar AI emotion-reading tools from influencing decisions at work.
• In New Jersey, a worker said AI photographed her at home every three minutes before she was fired.
• Across offices, workers said AI promised a productivity boost but left them alienated.
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