LSE: The Ballpark | AI and the workplace with Professor Ifeoma Ajunwa

Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Ifeoma Ajunwa | AI is now increasingly playing a role in many parts of our lives, and the workplace is no exception. AI is now being used by employers to help them to recruit new staff and by jobseekers in their applications. But AI is also now present when we work. It’s used by employers to manage their employees, from monitoring what they are doing during the day, to what they post on social media. To talk about the rise of AI in the workplace, and what it means for workers and employers, in August 2025, the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Ifeoma Ajunwa, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law at Emory University. Professor Ajunwa is also the Founding Director of the AI and Future of Work Program at Emory University School of Law. Her research interests are at the intersection of law and technology with a particular focus on the ethical governance of workplace technologies. This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Luke Digweed. Further reading and resources Ajunwa, Ifeoma, I. and Captured Capital (June 30, 2024). 134 Yale L. J. Forum (2025). Ajunwa, Ifeoma, Artificial Intelligence, Afrofuturism, and Economic Justice, 112 Geo. L.J. 1267 (2024). (November 01, 2023). Georgetown Law Journal, volume 112, pg 1267, Ajunwa, I., (2023). The quantified worker: law and technology in the modern workplace. Cambridge University Press. ‌ Ajunwa, Ifeoma, Automated Video Interviewing as the New Phrenology (July 19, 2021). 36 Berkeley Tech. L.J. 101 (2022). Does ‘Bossware’ Boost Worker Productivity? It’s Far From Clear – Wall Street Journal Tech Briefing Protecting Employees’ Health Data – New York Times - 27 March 2016 Take the Ballpark Listener survey and enter the prize draw for £250 in vouchers! The Ballpark will be ten years old in 2026, and we want to hear from you to make the podcast even better, so we’re running a listener survey until 1 November 2025. Fill in our listener survey – it only takes 15 minutes – here: https://forms.office.com/e/Vcj8V8uGM1 Voucher prize draw terms and conditions are available here: https://www.lse.ac.uk/united-states/the-ballpark/ballpark-listener-survey-prize-terms-conditions-2025