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Feeding the machine: the hidden human labour powering AI

Hosted by the Data Science Institute and International Inequalities Institute

In-person and online public event (Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House)

Speakers

Dr Callum Cant

Dr Callum Cant

Dr James Muldoon

Dr James Muldoon

Professor Kirsten Sehnbruch

Professor Kirsten Sehnbruch

Chair

Dr Kate Vredenburgh

Dr Kate Vredenburgh

Conversations around AI tend to focus on the future dangers, but what about the damage AI is inflicting on people right now?

AI promises to transform everything, from work to transport to war, and to solve our problems with total ease. But hidden beneath this smooth surface lies the grim reality of a precarious global workforce of millions that labour under often appalling conditions to make AI possible. Feeding the Machine presents an urgent investigation of the intricate network of organisations that maintain this exploitative system, revealing the untold truth of AI. Authors Callum Cant and James Muldoon will be joined by Kirsten Sehnbruch to discuss the impact of AI on global inequalities, and what we need to do, individually and collectively, to fight for a more just digital future. 

Meet our speakers and chair

Callum Cant is Senior Lecturer at the University of Essex Business School, where his research focuses on work, technology, and the crises of the 21st century. He has written for publications including the New Internationalist and Vice News. He edits Notes from Below, a journal of worker writing.

James Muldoon (@james_muldoon_) is Reader in Management at the University of Essex, Research Associate at the University of Oxford and the Head of Digital Research at the Autonomy think tank. His research examines how modern technologies such as artificial intelligence and digital platforms can create public value and serve the common good.

Kirsten Sehnbruch (@KirstenSehn) is a British Academy Global Professor, a Distinguished Policy Fellow and Acting Director at the International Inequalities Institute at LSE. Previously, she was Research Fellow at the Universidad de Chile, Director of the Institute for Public Policy at the Universidad Diego Portales (Chile), and a lecturer at the University of California, at Berkeley.

Kate Vredenburgh is Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method at LSE. She works on questions in the philosophy of AI, political philosophy, and philosophy of the social sciences. She is also a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow, running a project investigating AI, worker autonomy, and the future of work.

More about this event

This event will be available to watch on LSE Live. LSE Live is the new home for our live streams, allowing you to tune in and join the global debate at LSE, wherever you are in the world. If you can't attend live, a video will be made available shortly afterwards on LSE's YouTube channel.

The Data Science Institute (@LSEDataScience) is an interdisciplinary institute established to foster the study of data science and new forms of data with a focus on their social, economic and political aspects.

The International Inequalities Institute (@LSEInequalities) at LSE brings together experts from many LSE departments and centres to lead critical and cutting-edge research to understand why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.

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