Algorithmic Resistance as Understood via a Cross-Cultural Analysis of AI-Driven Workplace Surveillance in Eastern and Western Contexts

Abstract

The engagement of artificial intelligence (AI) has been presented as one of relentless and uniform progress reshaping management practices and employee relations across the globe. Or so the narrative goes. This paper argues that the adoption of AI-driven management and surveillance tools is not a culturally neutral phenomenon but contains differences as understood whether in an Eastern or Western context. Through a synthesis of existing literature, this analysis examines this divide by focusing on algorithmic management and workplace surveillance. Western contexts, prioritizing individual autonomy, tend to view algorithmic surveillance with precaution, framing it as an infringement on rights. Many Eastern contexts that emphasize collective harmony and national goals would demonstrate a higher degree of acceptance of these tools as instruments for efficiency and social order. This dichotomy is examined further through an analysis of China's Corporate Social Credit System as an apotheosis of the state-driven, collectivist model. The paper then provides a comparative analysis of worker pushback, and how responses to algorithmic control are themselves culturally coded. The paper concludes that a one-size-fits-all approach to the deployment of workplace AI is untenable, and discusses a few implications for multinational corporations, global AI ethics, and the future of labor rights.