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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

Professor Mark Graham

Professor Mark Graham

Dr James Muldoon

Dr James Muldoon

Professor Kirsten Sehnbruch

Professor Kirsten Sehnbruch

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 Mark Graham 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

Mark Graham (@geoplace) is Director of Fairwork and Professor at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford. As an internet geographer, Mark studied the growth of a global digital labour market since the first arrival of submarine internet cables in Kenya in 2009. He has also written for publications including Wired and the Guardian.

James Muldoon (@james_muldoon_) is Reader in Management at the University of Essex, a 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 the London School of Economics and Political Science. Previously, she was a 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.

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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This public event is free and open to all. This event will be a hybrid event, with an in-person audience and an online audience. 

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For the online event: Registration for this event will open after 10am on Wednesday 13 November.

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