Black workers could be disproportionately harmed by AI in the workplace, a study says. They are feeling the heat — and trying to fix it.

• Black workers are more afraid of being replaced by AI than white workers, a new survey found.
• That may be because Black workers have a fraught history with the technology, experts say. 
• Experts say that companies and the government have a responsibility to make AI more inclusive. 

Fears around AI replacing jobs are valid, and if history has taught us anything, it's that the rise of powerful tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT could spell even disproportionate trouble for workers of color.

Black workers are feeling the pressure, new research suggests.

Last month, Charter Works, a workplace research firm, surveyed 1,173 US workers across industries and job levels to understand their attitudes about AI tools like ChatGPT.

Workers of color "could be disproportionately disadvantaged by the broader use of AI and automation," the study says.

The findings suggest that fears around AI differ depending on race. Fifty-three percent of Black respondents expressed concerns that AI would replace their jobs within the next five years. Only 39% of white respondents reported being afraid of AI job replacement.

"I'm a little nervous about the use of AI as an employee and a consumer," one Black respondent said, according to internal survey results Charter sent to Insider. "I have a feeling that it will be mayhem and a huge inconvenience."

Another Black respondent said that AI will eventually "take the place of human employees."

It will create a "tidal wave of unemployment," responded another.

At the same time, Black workers and managers are embracing generative AI more than their white counterparts. Forty-five percent of Black respondents are using AI tools in their day-to-day jobs and 61% are enthusiastic about using AI in the future, compared to 51% and 37% of white respondents, respectively.

Black workers are afraid history will repeat itself

Black respondents may be more afraid of AI job replacement due to the history of new technologies — and AI, more specifically —harming workers of color, Emily Goligoski, one of the main researchers involved in the Charter study, said.

"Past technological transformations definitely suggest there's some historic precedent — and not for the better — in terms of impact on people of color and women," Goligoski told Insider.

Even before the rise of generative AI, Black workers in low-wage jobs faced a greater risk of being replaced by automation technologies, Goligoski said.

A 2019 McKinsey study estimated that AI would disrupt 4.5 million jobs done by Black Americans by 2030. Black workers are overrepresented in industries like fast food and service, the study found, which are the roles that have the greatest risk of being taken over by automation technologies like self-checkout kiosks, robot cooks, and robot servers.

AI surveillance has also disproportionately impacted workers of color, research has found. At companies like Amazon, surveillance has led warehouse workers forgoing bathroom breaks and delivery drivers peeing in water bottles avoid falling behind.

Amazon has denied that workers go to the bathroom in bottles and has said workers can use the bathroom outside of breaks. In 2021, the company has altered how it measures productivity.

"It's unsurprising that Black workers have greater anxiety and fear about being replaced in the workplace by AI than white workers," Myaisha Hayes, a director at racial and economic justice nonprofit MediaJustice told Insider over email. "Historically, Black and brown workers tend to be the least protected and therefore most exploited for their labor — and that trend has carried over in the digital age."

How to build more inclusive AI for the workforce

Black workers, though, may be doing one of the things most likely to prevent their replacement: embracing generative AI at higher rates than their white counterparts.

"AI won't take your job," economist Richard Baldwin said at the World Economic Forum's Growth Summit. "It's somebody using AI that will take your job." 

Companies, too, can help prevent the technology from harming workers of color by including them in planning and discussions around the implementation of AI technology.

"Fears about job loss are real and are concerning and can be distracting," Goligoski said. "Giving voice to 'what are we going to do together' and making sure their concerns are heard is frankly a basic worker's right.'"

Hayes, on the other hand, thinks the government needs to step in to ensure there are policies that protect Black workers from the potential consequences of AI.

"It is insufficient to relegate the responsibility of protecting Black workers from the harms of AI to businesses alone," Hayes said. "We need governments to be bold enough to slow down the roll out of these technologies until the adequate protections and guardrails exist that will protect Black workers and everyone else in our society."