KMDI is launching its public lecture series with a talk by Feeding the Machine authors Mark Graham (University of Oxford) and James Muldoon (University of Essex)
Silicon Valley has sold us the illusion that artificial intelligence is a frictionless technology that will bring wealth and prosperity to humanity. But hidden beneath this smooth surface lies the grim reality of a precarious global workforce of millions labouring under often appalling conditions to make AI possible. This talk – based on the recently published book Feeding the Machine – will present research on the intricate network that maintains this exploitative system, revealing the untold truth of AI.
Feeding the Machine tells the story of a global technology through the eyes of the people who produce it. The talk will describe the lives of the workers deliberately concealed from view, and the power structures that determine their future. It will center voice of the people whom AI exploits, from accomplished writers and artists to the armies of data annotators, content moderators and warehouse workers. It will further reveal how their dangerous, low-paid labour is connected to longer histories of gendered, racialized, and colonial exploitation.
When: Tuesday, November 19, 4 – 6 p.m.
Where: Robarts Library, Room 7020
About the Authors:
Mark Graham: Professor at the University of Oxford, Director of Fairwork, and expert in global digital labor markets.
James Muldoon: Associate Professor at the University of Essex, researcher at Oxford, and Head of Digital Research at the Autonomy think tank, focusing on AI’s potential for public good.
Hosted by Professors Rafael Grohmann and David Nieborg as part of the Platforms & Labour Speaker Series
