Nermeen Shaikh (27 August 2026). "Data workers: 'today's factory workers' exploited & traumatized in the pursuit of autonomous tech", Democracy Now!
https://www.youtube.com/embed/o1iLPxwgV4E
Related: "Amid all the talk about artificial intelligence (AI) both creating and destroying jobs, a troubling reality flies under the radar. The tasks machines can't perform well are often offloaded onto marginalised global workers who are struggling in precarious labour markets. They do ostensibly 'automated' work under exploitative conditions. Data work is an essential part of building and refining AI systems. Before AI models can 'learn' anything, human data workers must categorise, label, test and moderate vast volumes of text, images, audio and video, to make the data usable for AI training" (Yang, F., 2026, August 24). Related: Henri Poulain (2025). 'In the Belly of AI' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBrIeGrAFm0 Point: "The tech billionaire [Bill Gates] also expressed concern in his essay about the impact of AI on education. 'Ironically, the same tool that will allow people to learn more than ever could also lead to many people learning less,' he wrote. 'One preliminary survey suggested that heavier AI use was associated with less critical thinking. The effect was stronger for young people'" (Sweney, M., 2026, August 26). Bibliography: Shaikh, N. (2026, August 27). "Exploited data workers in the global south are 'the secret ingredient of AI itself'". Democracy Now! https://www.democracynow.org/2026/8/27/data_workers Sweney, M. (2026, August 26). Bill Gates calls for 'human-reserved' jobs in face of AI takeover. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/aug/26/bill-gates-human-reserved-jobs-ai-takeover Gates, B. (2026). The turbulent AI era is here. The choices we make are critical. Gates Notes. https://www.gatesnotes.com/work/make-ai-work-for-everyone/reader/a-turbulent-ai-era-and-critical-choices-to-make Casilli, A. A., & Roberts, S. T. (2025). "Waiting for robots : the hired hands of automation" (; S. Brown, Trans.). The University of Chicago Press. https://search.worldcat.org/title/1430500078 Poulain, H. (Director). (2025n). 'In the Belly of AI' [Video recording]. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt35701962/ Yang, F. (2026, August 24). "An AI job boom? Here's what the tedious, temporary work in data labelling is actually like". The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/an-ai-job-boom-heres-what-the-tedious-temporary-work-in-data-labelling-is-actually-like-289234
