{
  "id": 12836760,
  "title": "Co-op Legal Services using AI to rate workers’ phone calls to customers",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/08/co-op-legal-services-using-ai-to-rate-workers-phone-calls-to-customers",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-08T09:00:16.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Guardian Technology",
    "slug": "guardian-technology",
    "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/oct/08/co-op-legal-services-ai-customer-phone-call-surveillance"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Co-op Legal Services has started using AI technology to monitor and evaluate the performance of workers handling probate, wills, and estate-related phone calls. A whistleblower claims that this AI surveillance is \"oppressive and dystopian,\" as it records and analyzes every interaction between agents and customers seeking legal advice. The OpenAI model used by Co-op assesses more than 50 aspects of each call and provides pass and fail scores to managers for performance analysis. Workers say the constant monitoring, which can last several hours a day, creates a sense of distrust and can increase stress levels. The Co-op maintains that the AI is used as a support tool to ensure agents consistently deliver empathetic guidance and to identify ways to improve sales performance. Trade unions have criticized the increasing use of AI monitoring and are pushing back against its spread. The International Labour Organization has also expressed concerns about the \"psychosocial\" risks of AI monitoring, warning that workplaces may not have the proper regulatory framework to prevent harm caused by such systems.",
  "summary": "Whistleblower says recording and analysis of all probate calls is ‘oppressive and dystopian’ The Co-op has become the latest employer to place workers under AI surveillance with an automated listening technology that rates every phone call some of them make to customers. In a system described as “oppressive and dystopian” by a whistleblower, Co-op Legal Services is using AI models to record,…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}