From factory robots to customer service chatbots, AI is already changing how we work and how safe we feel on the job. A new study urges employers and policymakers to slow down, look at the risks and redesign AI with workers’ health and dignity in mind.
Artificial intelligence is no longer a distant promise on the horizon of work. It is already running assembly lines, routing deliveries and answering customer questions — and, increasingly, it is helping decide how people are hired, evaluated and managed.
A new open-access study from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) argues that this quiet revolution brings both real safety benefits and serious new risks for workers’ health and well-being.
“Artificial intelligence is already making decisions that directly affect the way we work and how we feel at work, often without adequate consideration of the consequences for people,” co-author Xavier Baraza, dean of the UOC’s Faculty of Economics and Business, said in a news release, underscoring how quickly these tools have moved into everyday jobs.
Published in the journal Encyclopedia, the study was carried out by Baraza and fellow researcher Joan Torrent from the university’s ICT interdisciplinary research – AI Lab (i2TIC-IA Lab). Their goal is to support the safe, ethical and sustainable integration of AI into workplaces so that technological advances translate into real improvements in employee health, safety and well-being.
“This article has been written in response to the need to pause, carefully reflect on what is happening and adopt a preventive and responsible approach to help anticipate risks and ensure that people are at the heart of the technological transformation,” added Torrent, a professor in the Economics and Business Studies Department and director of the Digital Transformation and Governance Research Centre (UOC-DIGIT).
From chatbots to cobots
The researchers map out how AI is already woven into the labor market, especially in industrial and service sectors.
In factories and warehouses, AI-powered systems and robots take on repetitive or high-precision tasks, which can increase efficiency and reduce the chance of human error. On assembly lines and in logistics operations, machines guided by algorithms can handle routine processes, allowing human workers to focus on more complex, higher-value activities.
In offices and call centers, AI shows up in chatbot-based customer service, where software fields common questions and requests. Behind the scenes, algorithms analyze large amounts of data in real time to support decisions about staffing, scheduling and workflow.
In occupational health and safety, predictive models already sift through accident and incident data, spotting patterns that can help organizations design more effective preventive measures. In advanced industrial environments, AI is also moving into collaborative robotics, where robots and humans share workspaces and tasks.
These examples, the authors argue, show that AI is not a futuristic add-on but a tool already integrated into many sectors — and one that is starting to shape not just how work is done, but how it is organized.
A new kind of technological turning point
The study places this moment in a longer history of technological change, from industrial mechanization to electrification. Those earlier waves transformed jobs and workplaces, but the authors say AI is different in kind, not just degree.
“Industrial mechanization and electricity, for example, profoundly changed the way people worked, but artificial intelligence marks an entirely new turning point. This is the first time that, far from merely automating tasks, a piece of technology has started to make decisions, organize work and assess people. This is a true paradigm shift, as it changes not only how people work but who makes decisions, how and under what criteria. This is why its impact is so immediate and far-reaching, forcing us to fundamentally rethink how we can safeguard people’s health, safety and well-being at work,” Baraza added.
That shift raises new questions about power, transparency and fairness. When algorithms decide which worker gets which shift, or how performance is scored, employees may feel they are being judged by systems they do not understand and cannot challenge.
New risks: technostress, surveillance and opacity
Alongside potential safety gains, the UOC study highlights a cluster of emerging risks that come with AI in the workplace.
One is technostress — the strain that comes from having to adapt quickly to digital tools without enough time, training or support. When new systems are rolled out rapidly, workers can feel overwhelmed, anxious about making mistakes or fearful that they will be left behind.
Another is the sense of being constantly watched. AI-based monitoring systems can include smart cameras, biometric sensors and productivity algorithms that track keystrokes, movements or output. While employers may see these tools as ways to improve efficiency or safety, employees may experience them as intrusive surveillance that erodes privacy, fuels mistrust and harms the work climate.
A third psychosocial risk is lack of trust in opaque systems. If workers do not understand how algorithms make decisions that affect their schedules, evaluations or career paths, they may feel uncertain and powerless. That uncertainty can itself become a source of stress.
The study also points to broader ethical and legal concerns about how AI systems process information and make decisions that directly affect people’s rights at work.
“Technology is often introduced hastily, focusing only on efficiency or control, which can exacerbate these risks. Although we’re heading in the right direction, there’s still a long way to go: we need a stronger occupational health and safety culture, more reflection and a greater willingness to put people at the heart of technological decisions,” added Torrent.
Catching up the rules
One of the central messages of the study is that the rapid spread of AI in workplaces has outpaced the adaptation of regulatory and ethical frameworks.
The authors argue that instead of starting from scratch, governments, companies and unions should focus on updating and reinterpreting existing worker protection rules for AI-driven environments. That means building sound AI governance systems that ensure responsible, transparent use, with occupational health and safety as a core focus.
“There is a sound framework in place for the protection of workers that is still fully effective. The challenge isn’t so much enacting completely new laws as adapting and interpreting the existing framework for new scenarios. The key is to anticipate these scenarios, apply preventive criteria in the design of technologies and make sure we don’t wait until the damage is already done,” Baraza added.
What comes next
This article is a first step in a broader research agenda. The next phase, the authors say, will dig deeper into how AI is being used in specific work settings and what its real-world effects are on health, safety and the organization of work.
“Our goal is to produce useful evidence to help companies, institutions and public officials make better decisions in order to ensure that AI is more than mere technological innovation and can be used as a tool to truly help create a safer, healthier and more human workplace,” Torrent added.
As AI continues to spread from chatbots to assembly lines and beyond, the researchers argue that the key question is not whether the technology will transform work — it already has — but whether that transformation will protect and enhance workers’ lives.
Their answer is cautiously optimistic: with thoughtful design, strong governance and a commitment to putting people first, AI can become a tool not just for productivity, but for safer, more humane workplaces.
Source: Universitat Oberta de Catalunya