Translated by Claude, edited by Sinocism.com

[Observing the Protection of Workers' Rights Under the AI Wave, Part 3] "AI Was Meant to Be a Tool for Efficiency — How Can It Casually Become a 'Digital Overseer'?"

原标题：【AI浪潮下的劳动者权益保护观察③】“本是效率工具的AI，怎能随意成为'数字监工'”

Source: Workers' Daily (工人日报)

Editor's note

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While AI algorithms boost efficiency, they also bring problems such as the "digital overseer," blurred working hours and opaque income, while workers seeking to defend their rights face difficulties in producing evidence. Lawyers suggest that the formulation of algorithmic rules should follow the spirit of labor law and safeguard workers' rights to information, to rest and other rights and interests.

AI算法在提升效率的同时，也带来“数字监工”、工时模糊、收入不透明等问题，劳动者维权则面临举证困难。律师建议算法规则制定应遵循劳动法精神，保障劳动者知情权、休息权等权益。

"In the early days you could earn two or three yuan per kilometer; now a kilometer might be worth only one or two yuan." On June 1, Lin Yanhong, a ride-hailing driver of seven years, told a Workers' Daily reporter that platform algorithms keep upgrading, precisely calculating the energy consumption and duration of every kilometer, but the opacity of the AI order-dispatch mechanism still persists, and the "fixed-price" model is a disguised way of pushing prices down.

“早期一公里能赚两三元钱，现在一公里可能只有一两元钱。”6月1日，开了7年网约车的司机林岩宏对《工人日报》记者说，平台算法不断升级，精准测算着每一公里的能耗与时长，但AI派单机制不透明的情况还存在，“一口价”模式则是变相压价。

AI has brought gains in efficiency, but it has also left Zhang Wenfeng, a marketing director at an internet company in Fujian, feeling anxious. "My AI assistant can finish a competitor-analysis report within an hour, greatly improving efficiency, but this makes the boss feel that all work should be done faster, which instead increases our workload," he said with feeling. "AI was meant to be a tool for efficiency — how can it casually become a 'digital overseer'?"

AI带来了效率的提升，也让在福建一家互联网公司担任市场总监的张文锋感受到焦虑。“我的AI助手能在一小时内完成竞品报告，大幅提高了效率，这却让领导觉得所有工作都该加速完成，反而增加了我们的任务量。”他感慨道，“本是效率工具的AI，怎能随意成为'数字监工'？”

As AI algorithms optimize efficiency, how to better safeguard workers' rights to information, to rest and so on has become a topic of concern for many workers.

在AI算法实现效率优化的同时，如何更好地保障劳动者的知情权、休息权等，成为不少劳动者关心的话题。

The Algorithmic Mechanism Keeps "Online" Riders on Call at All Times

算法机制让“在线”骑手随时待命

Platforms rely on precise algorithms to set delivery time limits, but real-world variables such as bad weather, how fast merchants prepare food, and complex road conditions are often ignored. Chen Anzhu, a food-delivery rider of eight years in Fuzhou, Fujian, described to the reporter the predicament he faced: within the delivery district he was responsible for, the straight-line distance between the east gate and west gate of a university was very short, but because the campus practiced closed management, he could not pass straight through. "The 'optimal route' planned by the platform algorithm was to cut in through the school's main gate, but in reality I could only go around. With that detour, the delivery time was no longer enough, and going over time would cost me points," he said.

平台依靠精密算法框定配送时限，但恶劣天气、商家出餐速度、复杂路况等现实变量常常被忽视。在福建福州做了8年外卖骑手的陈安柱向记者讲述了自己遇到的困境：他所负责配送的辖区内，一所大学的东门与西门之间直线距离很近，但由于校园实行封闭式管理，不能直接穿行。“平台算法规划的'最佳路线'是从学校大门口穿进去，但实际只能绕行。这一绕，配送时间就不够了，超时就会导致扣分。”他说。

Chen Anzhu told the reporter that, besides the mismatch in route planning, the algorithm also "precisely slices up" working time. Tapping "go online" starts the clock and tapping "go offline" stops it — this simple mechanism means that while a rider is "online" he must be on call at all times. "Sometimes after delivering to a remote spot, in order to take later orders efficiently, I have to return to a familiar area before going back online," Chen Anzhu explained. "The time spent on that offline journey is not counted by the system as 'working hours,' yet it is real effort expended for work."