Companies in China Are Using Brain Sensors to Monitor Employees’ Emotions

Companies throughout China are using brainwave sensor to educate proletarian and screen for mental fitness , South China Morning Post report . More than a dozen mill are requiring worker to wear down equipment that employ artificial intelligence to supervise their emotions . While functionary say this saves money , the implication for doer are deeply troubling .

sensor are wirelessly embed into the brim of electric company workers ’ helmet and the hats of eminent - pep pill train conductors . The devices supervise workers ’ insight , notice the capitulum and dips in emotional activity associated with panic , fatigue , sadness , and other emotions . The Morning Post report that some companies have also added the detector to VR headsets to supervise how trainees respond to practical environments modeled after workplace scenarios .

The devices have reportedly been adopted by exponent supply and galvanizing companies for actor in sure “ high peril ” occupations , like caravan conductors or electrician installing and resort parts of the power grid . A similar machine detects fatigue in conductor , trigger an alarm if it think they ’re snooze off .

Argentina’s President Javier Milei (left) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., holding a chainsaw in a photo posted to Kennedy’s X account on May 27. 2025.

Not only do the gimmick trim back accidents , harmonize to company official , they also boost profits . An official who runs the “ emotional surveillance ” programme at the State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power told the Morning Post that profits have farm by $ 315 million since the ship’s company began using the equipment in 2014 . Of course , mandatory cognitive surveillance has distressful entailment for prole .

For good example , the system could flag management that a certain worker is strain or otherwise not fit to work on . Companies can need workers to de - stress by take a break for an hour , dismiss them for the day , or even demoting them to a different placement . What happens if a false positive flags a intelligent worker ? Companies told the Morning Post they ’ve saved millions with the devices , but how much have workers lose by being dismissed or force into breaks because of their brain scan readings ?

“ The human judgement should not be exploit for net income , ” Qiao Zhian , professor of management psychology at Beijing Normal University , told the Morning Post . “ There is no law or regularization to confine the use of this variety of equipment in China . The employer may have a impregnable bonus to practice the engineering for higher profit , and the employee are usually in too unaccented a position to say no . ”

William Duplessie