Telecom employees are urging government regulations on artificial intelligence use within the industry, claiming that AI is being utilized to surveil workers and alter the accents of foreign call center agents. The Canadian Telecommunications Workers Alliance raised these concerns during a session on April 30 in Ottawa before the House of Commons’ standing committee on industry and technology.
This alliance, which represents 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 telecommunications sector, highlighted that at least one company is employing AI to disguise offshore agents’ accents, potentially deceiving customers into believing they are interacting with Canadian staff when the jobs have been outsourced.
Approximately 20,000 jobs have been lost in the telecom field over the last decade due to automation and offshoring, with concerns that artificial intelligence may hasten this trend. AI is extensively used in telecommunications to monitor workers, including tracking technicians’ activities and measuring task durations. Moreover, AI can scrutinize call center dialogues to redirect calls or detect sales-related patterns.
The alliance advocates for governmental restrictions on AI-based monitoring, emphasizing the heightened stress and workloads it imposes on workers. Nathalie Blais, a research advisor with the Canadian Union of Public Employees, emphasized the need for AI to be utilized ethically for societal benefits without misleading individuals or jeopardizing jobs. The alliance is pushing for the establishment of a permanent federal working group on artificial intelligence to ensure collaborative oversight of AI implementation by the government, industry, and civil society.
In addition to promoting job security and workers’ rights, the alliance also stresses the importance of safeguarding Canadians’ information. Minister Evan Solomon of Artificial Intelligence affirmed that the forthcoming national AI strategy will assess its impacts on the labor market.
