Telecom employees are advocating for government regulations to limit the application of artificial intelligence in their industry. They believe AI is being utilized to oversee workers and alter the accents of foreign call center agents. The Canadian Telecommunications Workers Alliance presented their concerns regarding AI on April 30 during a session with the House of Commons’ standing committee on industry and technology in Ottawa.
The alliance, comprising major unions like Unifor, the United Steelworkers union, and the Canadian Union of Public Employees, represents 32,000 workers in Canada’s telecom sector, including employees at Bell, Rogers, and Telus. Roch Leblanc, the Unifor telecommunications sector director, expressed awareness of a company using AI to mask the accents of offshore agents, potentially misleading customers into believing they are speaking with Canadian-based staff.
Leblanc highlighted that around 20,000 jobs have been lost in the telecom industry over the past decade due to automation and offshoring, with concerns that AI could further accelerate this trend. He emphasized the advanced use of AI in monitoring workers, such as tracking technicians’ activities and measuring task durations. Additionally, AI can scrutinize call center conversations to redirect calls or identify sales-related patterns.
The alliance urged governments to restrict AI-based monitoring, citing increased psychological stress and intensified 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 people or jeopardize jobs. The alliance proposed the establishment of a permanent federal working group on AI to foster collaboration between government, industry, and civil society in regulating AI implementation.
In addition to advocating for job protection and workers’ rights, the alliance called for enhanced safeguards for Canadians’ data security. Minister of Artificial Intelligence Evan Solomon stated that the upcoming national AI strategy by the federal government will address the impacts on the labor market.