The Invisible Faces of AI: Ghost Workers, Click Labor and Digital Exploitation

Artificial intelligence is not only based on technology, but above all on extensive human labor that often remains invisible. In particular, so-called clickwork, small-scale tasks such as data labeling or image annotation, usually carried out via platforms,forms the foundation of many AI systems. This work is often precarious, poorly paid, and largely unrecognized. The aim of the event is to shed light on the real working and living conditions of digital workers.

Birte Platow from the Center for Scalable Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence will open the evening with a welcome address. Afterwards, we will watch the film Ghost Workers by Lisette Olsthoorn, who will then join us for a discussion about the hidden labor behind AI. Tanja Carstensen and Adio Dinika will explore the social and global dimensions of digital platform work. The evening will be moderated by Vanessa Kuhfs.