(Un)Artificial Intelligence: Workers Behind the Machine

18 November 2024

An unprecedented initiative takes place on Thursday, November 21, 2024, at the European Parliament in Brussels. As co-lead of the DiPLab research program, Antonio Casilli, professor of sociology at Télécom Paris, joins Dr. Milagros Miceli and MEP Leïla Chaibi to bring AI data workers and EU policymakers together.

This groundbreaking workshop aims to connect the humans who make AI systems possible with the individuals shaping their future regulations.

For the first time, an European institution welcomes a delegation of workers and organizers coming from Colombia, Italy, Spain, Syria, and the USA, to share their firsthand experiences and discuss pathways to improve their working conditions. While headlines often focus on technological breakthroughs, these workers perform the crucial tasks that make AI development possible. Data workers’ stories will illuminate the complex reality behind AI and will be invaluable as the European Parliament considers policies to protect and support this vital workforce. Their presence transforms abstract policy discussions into concrete dialogue about the human foundation of AI development.

This event is the outcome of the EnCOre project (European microworkers Communication & Outreach), an initiative conducted by DiPLab researchers to map data work in nine European countries. DiPLab continues its mission of amplifying the voices of women and men who power artificial intelligence systems by performing often unseen and underpaid data work.

After a first event organized in collaboration with DiPLab at the European Parliament in February 2024, which was a turning point in the subsequent adoption of the European Directive on Platform Work, this dialogue demonstrates our team’s ongoing commitment to ensuring that data workers’ perspectives shape AI policy—and bridging the gap between AI’s human workforce and the institutions that govern it.

Want to Know More?

Download our report about DiPLab’s project EnCOre (European microworkers Communication & Outreach):

Milagros Miceli, Paola Tubaro, Antonio A. Casilli, Thomas Le Bonniec, Camilla Salim Wagner, Laurenz Sachenbacher. Who Trains the Data for European Artificial Intelligence? European Parliament; DiPLab, DAIR, Weizenbaum Institut, The Left. 2024. ⟨hal-04662589⟩

Header image source Freepik/Pressfoto