The White House has announced that it is seeking the public’s help in understanding the risks posed by artificial intelligence to labor conditions. The public request for information (RFI), led by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, is centered on how AI tools are “used by employers to surveil, monitor, evaluate, and manage workers.”

“Employers are increasingly investing in technologies that monitor and track workers, and making workplace decisions based on that information,” the White House said in a statement announcing the RFI. “While these technologies can benefit both workers and employers in some cases, they can also create serious risks to workers.”

Among labor concerns cited by the White House were nurses being required to wear RFID badges to track their location and proximity to other hospital workers or patients, rideshare and delivery drivers having their speed, location, and acceleration monitored, office workers having software on their computers record their mouse and keyboard activity, call center workers intensively tracked by electronic monitoring, and warehouse packers and stockers whose scanners can track their pace of work.

Announcing the RFI, the administration expressed concern that such conditions can push workers to move too fast in their job resulting in safety and mental health risks, while the monitoring of conversations can deter workers from exercising organizing and collective bargaining rights. In the context of employer decisions about pay, discipline, and promotion, automated surveillance can give rise to bias and discrimination, the White House added.

The RFI hopes to gather firsthand experiences with surveillance technologies from workers, as well as details from employers, technology developers, and vendors on how they develop, sell, and deploy technologies. The initiative also hopes to uncover best practices for mitigating risks to workers and inform future policy. The RFI is open for responses until June 15th.

This article is part of the Archinect In-Depth: Artificial Intelligence series.