What do you think?
Rate this book
Augmented Exploitation: Artificial Intelligence, Automation and Work
Artificial Intelligence is a seemingly neutral technology, but it is increasingly used to manage workforces and make decisions to hire and fire employees. Its proliferation in the workplace gives the impression of a fairer, more efficient system of management. A machine can't discriminate, after all. Augmented Exploitation explores the reality of the impact of AI on workers' lives. While the consensus is that AI is a completely new way of managing a workplace, the authors show that, on the contrary, AI is used as most technologies are used under as a smokescreen that hides the deep exploitation of workers. Going beyond platform work and the gig economy, the authors explore emerging forms of algorithmic governance and AI-augmented apps that have been developed to utilise innovative ways to collect data about workers and consumers, as well as to keep wages and worker representation under control. They also show that workers are not taking this lying down, providing case studies of new and exciting form of resistance that are springing up across the globe.
176 pages, Hardcover
Published March 5, 2021
2 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 29, 2021
A series of interconnected articles by several contributors on the adoption and implementation of digital technologies that enable automated, algorithmic control over workers and the effect they have on labor politics and workers' experiences.
Despite being a series of articles by different authors it's assembled in a cohesive way, the articles are both clear and comprehensive, and the focus on workers' experiences is very helpful. It does veer toward gig delivery drivers in the latter half of the book, but it's understandable given how these services are at the forefront when it comes to implementing these technologies (for better or worse, most of the times the latter).
Despite being a series of articles by different authors it's assembled in a cohesive way, the articles are both clear and comprehensive, and the focus on workers' experiences is very helpful. It does veer toward gig delivery drivers in the latter half of the book, but it's understandable given how these services are at the forefront when it comes to implementing these technologies (for better or worse, most of the times the latter).
May 16, 2021
Thoughtful collection of studies of how the creation and use of artificial intelligence affects the management and (often) exploitation of workers.
There is a distinctly Marxist slant to the analysis, which is useful when sorting out different goals an strategies of owners and laborers, and several of the studies are based on research where the researcher performed courier work as part of the observations. These approaches help provide insight into strategies on both sides of the labor divide.
That said, the researchers sometimes adopt a too-clinical economic viewpoint -- they seem to see some workers as tricked by technology or the "illusion of choice" when it seems obvious that at least some of the interviewees understand their situation and are making a reasonable choice to pursue strategies that provide emotional benefits instead of economic advantage. The researchers mean well in these cases, but they don't always see past their own expectations of what work should be.
There is a distinctly Marxist slant to the analysis, which is useful when sorting out different goals an strategies of owners and laborers, and several of the studies are based on research where the researcher performed courier work as part of the observations. These approaches help provide insight into strategies on both sides of the labor divide.
That said, the researchers sometimes adopt a too-clinical economic viewpoint -- they seem to see some workers as tricked by technology or the "illusion of choice" when it seems obvious that at least some of the interviewees understand their situation and are making a reasonable choice to pursue strategies that provide emotional benefits instead of economic advantage. The researchers mean well in these cases, but they don't always see past their own expectations of what work should be.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews