Is Automation Going to Wipe Out a Ton of Jobs?

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i tells a very different story. The real driver of unemployment has been a dip in global labour demand set in motion by the crisis of overproduction that began in the 19 seventies. This context has created lots of badly paid service jobs, but it was also the context from which big data and machine learning emerged. But there are also lots of poorly paid workers doing short data tasks on sites like amirson mechanical turk click worker and apen. These sites act as intermediaries between contractors who use the sights to outsource tasks. They are usually big tech companies like gugle amizon, or maybe a smaller start up. And then workers will jost to complete the tasks.

Paris Marx is joined by Phil Jones to discuss the hidden microworkers behind supposedly AI-powered automation from major tech companies, how it differs in the Global North and South, and what it means for how we think about the future.

Phil Jones is the author of Work Without the Worker: Labour in the Age of Platform Capitalism and a researcher at Autonomy. Follow Phil on Twitter at @philjones7771.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.

Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Phil wrote about digital piecework for The Guardian and had an excerpt about refugee labor in Rest of World.
Turkopticon helps workers on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk gain some information on the contractors offering tasks on the platform.
In 2020, Gizmodo did surveys to find out about workers’ experiences on Mechanical Turk. There were a lot of horror stories.
In 2014, workers on the platform sent emails to Jeff Bezos to ask for better conditions.

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