About this Event
Book Talk
Platform Extractivism: Data Work and the People Powering Artificial Intelligence (University of California Press)
Julián Posada
December 2nd, 4pm
Massey College, Upper Library, 4 Devonshire Place
Co-organized by:
DigiLabour Research Lab
Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society
Massey College
About the book
Concealed behind digital platforms, a vast, dispersed, and largely invisible workforce quietly generates and annotates the data that powers today’s AI boom. In Platform Extractivism, information scientist Julián Posada argues that these platforms are engines of extraction rooted in the enduring social inequalities and transnational power disparities of coloniality. Posada reveals that technology, especially today’s so-called AI, is not artificial, autonomous, or intelligent; it inherently relies on and extracts from humanity. Drawing on mixed-methods research on three platforms in the Venezuelan data work sector, Posada exposes the human cost of this technology, revealing how digital platforms have capitalized on economic instability, targeting vulnerable populations to extract value from their precarious labour. A critical intervention in the debate on the future of work, this book provides profound insight into the implications of artificial intelligence and moves beyond the context of advanced economies to focus on the labour involved in its production. Platform Extractivism questions whether AI is a tool for freedom or a motor driving the widening the gap between the unseen workers who teach machines and the corporations that profit from them.
About the author
Julián Posada is an Assistant Professor of American Studies and co-director of the certificate in Computing, Culture, and Society at Yale University. His research examines the social and cultural dimensions of information, especially the role of labour and infrastructure in the development of artificial intelligence.
About DigiLabour
DigiLabour is a research lab based at the University of Toronto. It focuses on research and knowledge mobilization on labour and technology, addressing (a) historical and intersectional inequalities in the digital labour landscape; (b) worker-led tech governance; (c) digital solidarity economies. DigiLabour values policy- and community-oriented research, rooted in global perspectives on labour and technology, especially from the Majority World. https://digilabour.com.br
About the Schwartz Reisman Institute
Located at the University of Toronto, the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society’s mission is to deepen our knowledge of technologies, societies, and what it means to be human by integrating research across traditional boundaries and building human-centred solutions that really make a difference. The integrative research we conduct rethinks technology’s role in society, the contemporary needs of human communities, and the systems that govern them. We’re investigating how best to align technology with human values and deploy it accordingly. The human-centred solutions we build are actionable and practical, highlighting the potential of emerging technologies to serve the public good while protecting citizens and societies from their misuse. We want to make sure powerful technologies truly make the world a better place—for everyone.
Event venue & nearby stays
Massey College, 4 Devonshire Place, Toronto, Canada
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