Abstract

Augmented reality (AR) technologies are increasingly being implemented in various workplace contexts; however, they pose a number of ethical design challenges. To discern the ethical implications of workplace AR, this article conducts an analysis of the promotional discourses surrounding a workplace AR system. This analysis demonstrates a tendency to frame AR technologies in terms of a transhumanist evolution in worker agency and organizational efficiency. Such discourses elide applications of workplace AR for purposes of worker surveillance and exploitation. The article concludes by outlining speculative ethical design guidelines that communication designers can take up in their work on workplace AR systems.