Ethical digitalisation at work: From theory to practice
Published: 12 September 2023
Automation and digitisation technologies, including artificial intelligence, are rapidly evolving and becoming increasingly powerful and pervasive. The full range of their effects in the workplace is yet to be seen. It is, however, important not only to explore the ethical implications of digital technologies and the effects of such technologies on working conditions as they emerge, but also to anticipate any unintended effects that raise new ethical challenges. Using a variety of research methods and building on previous research on the digital workplace, this report examines the many ramifications of digital technologies in the workplace, looking at the fundamental rights and ethical principles most at stake and the areas of working conditions most likely to be affected.
Despite increasing awareness among policy stakeholders about the ethical implications of digital technologies for work and employment, most of the policy initiatives on ethics and digitalisation remain broad in focus, failing to address the workplace dimension sufficiently. The disruptive effects of digital technologies on work – with both ethical and legal ramifications – require greater attention.
While issues related to digitalisation – particularly data ethics, algorithmic management, worker surveillance and AI governance more generally – are not systematically covered in collective bargaining, some innovative sectoral and company-level collective agreements are in place. These developments demonstrate the added value of social dialogue in dealing with the digitalisation of work.
The new findings point to a general lack of policies guiding the ethical implementation and use of technology in the workplace. To ensure that technologies are designed, developed and used for good purposes, rather than for social control or solely for profit, it will be critical to embed ethical considerations throughout the whole technology lifecycle.
The most recurrent ethical concerns expressed by workers who were interviewed revolved around fear of future job loss and concern about the perceived diminished value of their work and potential loss of acquired skills. This anxiety – which can be detrimental for workers’ wellbeing if left unchecked – can be alleviated through adequate training provision to support new work roles and a participative approach to technological change.
Findings reveal that trust in technologies is a significant concern for policy stakeholders and companies. Incorporating policy initiatives that focus on ethical workplace digitalisation into national digitalisation and AI strategies can build this necessary trust. Such initiatives might include campaigns raising awareness of the benefits of ethical technology design and use, efforts to embed ethics in education and training curricula, or practical guidance for companies on implementing an ethical and human-centred approach to technology design and use.
The executive summary for this publication is available in PDF format.
This section provides information on the data contained in this publication.
Tables and graphs
The report contains the following lists of tables and figures.
List of tables
Table 1: Definitions of vectors of change and examples of associated technologies
Table 2: Number of stakeholder interviews, by country and type
Table 3: Overview of exploratory case studies
Table 4: Fundamental rights most at risk when using AI, advanced robotics and IoT in the workplace
Table 5: Ethical principles relevant to the use of AI and proposed statements (on which expert consensus was reached)
Table 6: Ethical principles relevant to the design and use of machine learning applications and proposed statements (on which expert consensus was reached)
Table 7: Ethical principles relevant to the use of IoT and proposed statements (on which expert consensus was reached)
Table 8: Areas of concern reported by policy stakeholders consulted in the selected EU Member States
Table 9: Examples of national legislation on employee representatives’ rights to information and consultation in relation to the impact of digitalisation
Table 10: Share of employees reporting concerns with regard to the future of their workplace in the seven surveyed EU Member States (%)
Table 11: Share of employees with concerns about specific workplace dangers of AI (%)
List of figures
Figure 1: Conceptualisation of the ethical implications of automation and digitisation technologies in the workplace
Figure 2: Share of enterprises using at least one AI technology in the EU, by establishment size (%)
Figure 3: Share of enterprises using at least one AI technology in the EU, by sector of activity and purpose (%)
Figure 4: Share of enterprises using at least one AI technology in the EU, by size of enterprise and purpose (%)
Figure 5: Share of industry employment exposed to automation by AI in the euro area (%)
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Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (2023), Ethical digitalisation at work: From theory to practice, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.
ISBN
978-92-897-2347-3
Number of pages
68
Reference no.
EF22018
ISBN
978-92-897-2347-3
Catalogue number
TJ-07-23-333-EN-N
DOI
10.2806/235924
Permalink
https://eurofound.link/ef22018
