If colonialism was characterized by the violent capture of land, extraction of resources, and exploitation of people for the economic enrichment of the conquering country, the AI industry is now using more insidious means to capture our behaviors, extract our data, and exploit our labor for enriching the wealthy and powerful at the great expense of the poor. This talk will illustrate how generative AI exacerbates these trends through the stories of people and communities most marginalized by Silicon Valley. It will also propose a new vision for artificial intelligence, one that returns power back to the people and becomes a force for good.

Heralded by tech luminaries as the world’s most revolutionary technology since the arrival of the internet, so-called generative AI like ChatGPT depends on a sprawling global pipeline of human labor. But who are these workers? What are their lives like? Do they like doing this work? This talk will share stories and observations from the field that reveal a troubling picture about the exploitative labor system that Silicon Valley has created to make possible its multibillion-dollar AI industry. It will also discuss ways to turn these jobs into true, meaningful work.