The Glamorisation of Unpaid Labour: AI and its Influencers

TL;DR

This paper examines how AI-driven unpaid labor and influencer practices exploit workers in the Global South, emphasizing the need for regulation and ethical AI development to promote societal benefits.

Contribution

It highlights unethical AI practices in gig work and social media influencing, proposing a responsible AI development framework to address these issues.

Findings

Unpaid labor in AI disproportionately affects Global South workers.

Current practices exploit gig workers and social media influencers.

Regulation and ethical AI are essential for societal benefit.

Abstract

To harness the true potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for societal betterment, we need to move away from prioritising corporate interests which exploit Global South workers in the digital age. The unpaid labour and societal harms which are generated by Digital Value Networks (DVNs) disproportionately affect workers in Africa, Latin America, and India and need to be regulated. In this research, we discuss unethical practices to automate Human Intelligence Tasks (HITs) through gig work platforms and the capitalisation of data collection utilising influencers in social media. These are important areas of study in worker and user data practices, where ethical AI could be impactful. We provide suggestions for a path forward focused on responsible AI development.