Original title: AI-Driven Feedback Systems, Digital Labour, and Silent Quitting: Transforming African Workplaces
Abayomi O. Agbeyangi, Jose M. Lukose · September 2026
Workplaces in Africa are shifting toward remote and hybrid setups, but this brings a serious issue: silent quitting. This happens when employees still do their basic work but stop putting in effort or emotion. The researchers studied how artificial intelligence tools can help organizations tackle this problem. These tools include pulse surveys, chatbots, dashboards, and sentiment analysis, which reads text to detect employee moods. By offering continuous listening and instant updates on performance, these systems can spot the earliest signs of worker disengagement. This allows private and public employers to step in and communicate better. However, using these technologies across the continent also brings major risks. Companies face digital inequality, weak infrastructure, privacy concerns, algorithmic bias, and the danger of turning tools into workplace surveillance. The researchers provide guidance for managers and policymakers so they can adopt these tools responsibly while respecting local challenges.
Imagine a teacher who only sees whether students turn in homework, not whether they are actually learning. Some students start copying answers just to get by, doing the minimum without understanding. The teacher cannot tell who is truly engaged until grades drop. In this paper, AI feedback systems act like a teacher that can read the room—they analyze tone, effort, and patterns to catch disengagement early, but they also risk invading privacy or misreading cultural cues.
For millions of African workers now managed by AI, silent quitting means they are physically present but mentally absent. AI feedback systems promise to catch this disengagement early, but they also risk amplifying surveillance and bias. How these tools are deployed will shape whether African workplaces become more responsive or more controlling.
The abstract does not present empirical evidence on the effectiveness of these AI systems in reducing silent quitting. It also does not compare different AI tools or quantify their impact on productivity or employee well-being. The study is conceptual and offers recommendations rather than tested solutions.
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AI-Driven Feedback Systems, Digital Labour, and Silent Quitting: Transforming African Workplaces — Abayomi O. Agbeyangi, Jose M. Lukose
Abstract licence: CC0
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper. This is a preprint, so it hasn't necessarily been peer reviewed.