AI at work: pointers for employees

1. Start

   What situation are you in?

   Choose a branch, or go through them all.

   • A · I use an AI tool for my workDrafting, summarising, searching, coding
   • B · An AI organises, assesses or decides about my workScheduling, task allocation, scores, activity monitoring
   • C · I approve or supervise what an AI producesApprovals one after another, agents that act
   • D · For everyone: spotting the warning signsAnd knowing who to talk to

Branch AI use an AI tool for my work

1. A1

   Is the tool authorised by your employer for this use?

   If no

   Do not enter any personal, health, confidential or identifying data. Instead, explain your need to your manager to obtain an authorised solution.

   Source: AI in OHS services · shadow AI

2. A2

   Are you going to enter personal or health data, or data covered by confidentiality?

   If yes

   First check where the data goes, how long it is kept and whether it is used for training; health data must be stored with a certified health-data host (HDS). Share only what is strictly necessary, with nothing identifying.

   Source: Understanding AI · from model to system

3. A3

   Can you check the result yourself: skills, sources, time?

   If no

   Do not use the result as it is: ask for a competent review or keep the task out of the tool. Producing a result with AI does not mean being able to judge its quality.

   Source: Reading · Occupational boundaries

   If yes

   Check references, figures and legal articles, which may be invented. Be wary of an answer that confirms your hypothesis too quickly, and of instructions hidden in a document the tool reads.

   Source: Understanding AI · capabilities and limits

4. A4

   Does checking take unplanned time, or have your targets increased with AI?

   If yes

   Report it to your manager: checking and correcting are part of the work and must be counted. How the time saved is used should be decided collectively, before it is turned into targets.

   Source: Psychosocial risks · intensity

5. A5

   Do you still regularly practise the key skills of your job without AI?

   If no

   Keep doing some tasks without AI assistance, especially early in your career, and ask for a fallback procedure for days when the tool is unavailable or makes mistakes.

   Sources: Assess an AI project · Reading · Human in the loop

Continue to D · warning signs

Branch BAn AI organises, assesses or decides about my work

1. B1

   Do you know what data and criteria the system uses about you?

   If no

   Ask for clear information on the purpose, data, criteria and known limits. A system for monitoring activity requires employees to be informed beforehand and the works council to be consulted.

   Labour Code L. 1222-4 · L. 2312-38

   Source: Reading · Human in the loop

2. B2

   Can a decision about you be reviewed by a person able to change it?

   If no

   Ask for a human review, with facts to support it, and get help from your employee representatives. The GDPR regulates decisions based solely on automated processing.

   GDPR art. 22

   Sources: Psychosocial risks · legal framework · Assess an AI project

3. B3

   Can you set aside a recommendation from the tool without risking a penalty?

   If no

   Your professional judgement must be able to prevail over the AI output. Report this pressure to management and the works council: the right to correct, refuse or report without penalty should be written down.

   Source: Psychosocial risks · autonomy

4. B4

   Since the deployment, are you mostly left with the difficult situations?

   Complaints, customers already irritated because the chatbot failed them.

   If yes

   Flag that the difficult cases are being concentrated on you. The split between people and AI must take the emotional load into account: quick access to a colleague, alternating with less exposed tasks, debriefing after an incident.

   Source: Psychosocial risks · emotional demands

5. B5

   Does the system claim to recognise your emotions, from your voice, face or tone?

   If yes

   Emotion recognition in the workplace is prohibited by the European AI Act, except for medical or safety reasons. Alert your employee representatives.

   AI Act art. 5

   Source: Psychosocial risks · legal framework

Continue to D · warning signs

Branch CI approve or supervise what an AI produces

1. C1

   Do you have the time, information and authority to refuse a result or an action?

   If no

   Do not approve what you cannot check. Describe the gap between what is asked and what is feasible: volume of approvals, missing information, responsibility not written down.

   Source: Reading · Human in the loop

2. C2

   Do you sometimes approve on autopilot, without really reading?

   If yes

   This is a sign of approval fatigue, which comes from the organisation more than from you. Ask for breaks, rotation, grouped approvals and shorter checking sequences.

   Source: Reading · Human in the loop

3. C3

   Does the tool or agent make demands on you outside your working hours?

   If yes

   Turn off notifications outside working time: an agent blocked for a few hours can wait. Ask for the right-to-disconnect rules to cover requests from AI too.

   Labour Code L. 2242-17

   Source: Reading · AI agents and disconnecting

Continue to D · warning signs

Branch DFor everyone: spotting the warning signs

1. D1

   Since AI arrived, do you recognise any of these signs?

   • Raised targets
   • Extra hours, evening work
   • Cognitive fatigue, errors
   • Training in your own time
   • Feeling that you carry out tasks without making decisions
   • “Botched” work, disagreements left unspoken
   • Worry about the future of your job
   • Fewer exchanges with colleagues
   If yes

   Put these difficulties into words and talk about them with colleagues, your manager, employee representatives or the occupational health service. You can ask to see the occupational physician.

   Source: Psychosocial risks · six dimensions

   If no

   Keep reporting errors and incidents and taking part in feedback sessions: your observations help adjust the tool and the organisation.

   Source: Homepage · employee profile

End of the path