The concept of equal pay for equal work is fundamental to Americans’ sense of fairness in the workplace. But the rise of artificial intelligence is allowing some big companies to pay employees differently for the same job, claims a new research report.
Studies show that companies that rely on independent contractors, such as Uber and Amazon, are using artificial intelligence to engage in so-called “algorithmic wage discrimination,” similar to consumer price discrimination. It turns out that there is
Retailers and Advertisers Billing Consumers Different prices for the same product, the seller is based on the amount someone believes they are willing to pay, gleaned from details such as the web browser they are using. We collect detailed information about when and where you work, how much you aim to earn, and the types of jobs you are most likely to accept or reject. Vina Duvall, professor of law at the University of California, Hastings, author of the report.
From the rideshare driver’s perspective, paying based on these metrics leads to unpredictable and fluctuating compensation, said Dubal, who used hundreds of interviews with the gig workers themselves. .
Some ride-hailing drivers said the companies they work for “gamified” their jobs, manipulated them, and forced them to gamble just to make a living.
“Algorithmic wage discrimination allows companies to personalize and differentiate wages in ways unknown to workers, perhaps paying workers to behave the way companies want them to behave. [paying] Only if the system determines they are willing to accept them,” the report reads in part.
Workers have to “guess” wages
And while companies have tons of data about their employees, they have little to no insight into how salaries are determined.
“Given the information asymmetry between workers and firms, firms can calculate the exact wage rate needed to incentivize desired behavior, but workers make assumptions about what they will do. We can only do that,” the report said.
Duvall added that workers cannot rely on their jobs for economic stability or security, and said companies’ wage practices are “very predatory”.
“It’s like gambling! The house always wins,” said Ben, a rideshare driver interviewed by Duvall.
Another Uber driver, Domingo, said he completed 95 of the 96 rides required to earn the $100 bonus. Despite being in a busy part of town, he had to wait his 45 minutes to secure the last ride and earn his $100 he expected to pay for groceries. . He believes Uber was pushing him to work longer.
“I feel like the algorithm is turning its back on you. I had a night at the end of one week if I felt like the algorithm was punishing me. Ride 95 out of 96 with a $100 bonus.” “It was 10 o’clock at night in a popular area. The last ride in a popular area took 45 minutes,” he told Professor Duvall. The algorithm was passing me by, and I have no way of verifying that, but it felt like it was happening.”
Bring Your Boss “Inside Your Head”
Closely monitoring the workplace in this way effectively erases workers’ most powerful bargaining tools. That is, the fact that usually only they know the wages they are willing to accept for their work.
According to Dubal, that’s the scariest thing about practice.
“The source of my power is that I know what I am willing to accept. My employer doesn’t know,” she told CBS MoneyWatch. Get rid of it because you can learn what workers have been willing to accept in certain situations.They’re in your head.”
This kind of insight into how workers think, she says, can be gained by combining the availability of other information, such as credit data, and how much a particular worker owes in rent. It said it could lead to “a very controlled economy with people under control inside.” A company and no one else. ”
It could undermine decades of social and labor movements advocating equal pay for equal work, she added.
“It’s really terrifying. This is how we get cutbacks, a setback of workers’ rights, through a new cultural sense of what’s OK and what’s not,” she said.
