Amazon Uses Arsenal of AI Weapons Against Workers

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Amazon Uses Arsenal of AI Weapons Against Workers Anonymous 14-03-25 10:10:24 No.281

< A new academic study by Teke Wiggin of Northwestern University reveals how Amazon used advanced algorithms to suppress unionization efforts at its Bessemer, Alabama, warehouse.
< The research, based on worker interviews and FOIA requests, details Amazon’s use of workplace surveillance, algorithmic discipline, and social media monitoring to discourage union support.
< Amazon exploited workplace devices to send anti-union messages, gauge employee sentiments, and intimidate workers through “captive audience” meetings.
< The company also used a strategy called “algorithmic slack-cutting,” temporarily easing working conditions during union elections to create a false sense of improvement.
< At the same time, Amazon increased digital harassment, using workplace apps to push anti-union content that workers were forced to see.
< Social media groups formed by employees to discuss grievances were heavily monitored, with Amazon tracking Facebook, Reddit, and other online forums for organizing efforts.
< The study reveals Amazon’s AI-powered mapping of union activity, showing its proactive measures to suppress labor movements across multiple locations.
< Employees faced termination for social media posts criticizing working conditions, and some were recruited to spread positive narratives about Amazon online.
< The study argues that Amazon is not merely using AI to manage workers but actively weaponizing technology to dismantle labor organizing.
< Despite repeated union elections and legal interventions, Amazon’s aggressive tactics have kept Bessemer warehouse workers from successfully organizing.
< The article also connects Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' political affiliations to potential threats against labor protections under a Trump administration.
< Ultimately, the study describes Amazon’s workplace control as a form of corporate despotism, using AI not just for efficiency but for coercion.

https://prospect.org/labor/2025-03-13-amazon-uses-arsenal-of-ai-weapons-against-workers/