Chinese companies monitor workers brains

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | It sounds like something out of a science fiction, but according to recent news reports, Chinese companies are using special helmets to monitor workers’ brain activity in order to reduce stress and manipulate break times so that they can produce more.

Employee brainwave uses sensors concealed in helmets the workers wear. It constantly monitors and collects workers’ brain activity, which is then fed into computers that use artificial intelligence algorithms that detect “emotional spikes such as depression, anxiety or rage”.

This data is then used by management to adjust the work schedule and pace of production or to change working conditions in order to increase productivity.

Cheng Jingzhou, an official of Zhejiang Electric Power, which is one of the many companies using employee brainwave monitoring, the “emotional surveillance program”, has definitely paid off.