Telecom workers are advocating for government limitations on the application of artificial intelligence in their industry, raising concerns that AI is being utilized to surveil workers and alter the accents of call center employees based overseas. The Canadian Telecommunications Workers Alliance highlighted these worries on April 30 during a session with the House of Commons’ standing committee on industry and technology in Ottawa.
The alliance, representing 32,000 workers in Canada’s telecom sector, including employees at Bell, Rogers, and Telus, comprises major unions such as Unifor, the United Steelworkers union, and the Canadian Union of Public Employees. Roch Leblanc, the director of Unifor’s telecom sector, disclosed that at least one company was employing AI to mask the accents of offshore agents, potentially deceiving Canadians into thinking they were interacting with local staff.
Approximately 20,000 jobs have been lost in the telecom industry over the past decade due to automation and offshoring, with fears that AI could further exacerbate this trend. AI is extensively used in telecom, monitoring worker activities like tracking technicians’ movements and task durations. Additionally, AI can scrutinize call center dialogues to redirect calls and identify sales-related patterns.
The alliance urged governments to restrict AI-based monitoring, citing increased stress and workloads for employees. Nathalie Blais, a research advisor at the Canadian Union of Public Employees, emphasized the need for AI to serve the common good and not mislead individuals or jeopardize jobs. The alliance proposed establishing a permanent federal AI working group involving government, industry, and civil society to regulate AI implementation.
Furthermore, the alliance called for enhanced safeguards for workers’ job security, rights, and the protection of Canadians’ data. Minister of Artificial Intelligence Evan Solomon stated that the upcoming national AI strategy by the federal government will carefully consider its impact on the labor market.