ILO Report Highlights Risks and Benefits of Artificial Intelligence
A new report by the International Labor Organization (ILO) examines the occupational safety and health implications of artificial intelligence (AI), digitalization, robotics, and automation. The report (PDF), titled “Revolutionizing Health and Safety: The Role of AI and Digitalization at Work,” addresses the ways in which “these emerging technologies are improving worker health and well-being while underscoring the need for proactive policies to address new risks,” according to ILO’s news release.
The report explains that automation and smart monitoring systems can reduce hazardous exposures, prevent workplace injuries, and improve workplace conditions. However, these developing technologies introduce new risks to the workplace that occupational and environmental health and safety professionals must address and control. For example, automation and advanced robotics may undergo mechanical failures and introduce ergonomic, noise, and psychosocial risks. While smart tools and monitoring systems may aid in detecting hazards, predicting risks, and managing occupational safety and health, OEHS professionals must ensure these devices fit a diverse workforce, protect workers’ privacy, and prevent stress from continuous monitoring. Extended and virtual reality applications may transform worker training, but these applications may also limit workers’ vision, balance, and cognitive load. AI-driven systems may be used to coordinate labor, optimize task allocation, improve worker engagement and work-life balance, and address skill gaps, but excessive surveillance and work intensification may cause new risks to arise.
“The study highlights that over-reliance on AI and automation may reduce human oversight, which would, in turn, increase [occupational safety and health] risks,” ILO’s news release states. The report also evaluates safety and health risks throughout the digital supply chain, identifies regulatory gaps, and calls for stronger global, regional, and national policies to ensure safety and health in technologically augmented workplaces.
“Robots can replace workers in hazardous ‘3D jobs’, which can be dirty, dangerous, and demeaning,” said Manal Azzi, ILO’s team lead on occupational safety and health policy. “Automation can reduce repetitive tasks, such as in factory production lines or in administrative work, allowing workers to take on more challenging tasks. But for us to fully benefit from these technologies, we must ensure they are implemented without incurring new risks.”
More information is available in ILO’s news release, and the new report may be downloaded from the organization’s website.
