Tag: academic

The Ghost Work Behind Artificial Intelligence

The Ghost Work Behind Artificial Intelligence

Illustration by Natalie Matthews-Ramo An expert on how data and algorithms are changing work responds to Janelle Shane’s “ The Skeleton Crew .”

“The Skeleton Crew” asks us to consider two questions. The first is an interesting twist on an age-old thought experiment. But the second is more complicated, because the story invites us to become aware of a very real phenomenon and to consider what, if anything, should be done about the way the world is working for some people.

The first question explores what it would mean if our machines, robots, and now artificial intelligences had feelings the […]

The fourth industrial revolution and the challenges of a corporatized higher education

The fourth industrial revolution and the challenges of a corporatized higher education

WE are said to be entering the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, where the internet of things (IoT) will become more pervasive, seen in the adoption of automation, artificial intelligence, robotics, digitalization and virtual interactions as everyday technologies not only in the arena of work but even in interpersonal interactions.

The onset of the pandemic has provided the platform and the avenue for this development to be hastened and adopted. Online shopping, Netflix and video streaming, and online learning are now part of our everyday existence.

There is reason to celebrate this new development, as it ushers in innovative ways […]

Kevin Carmichael: Don’t fear the robots, people

Kevin Carmichael: Don't fear the robots, people

Some of today’s pessimists favour taxing algorithms and robots to keep employers from abandoning most of their humans. Others reckon that technology will make most of us better and richer, like it always has. Article content

History is imperfect. Most of the original stories were written by conquerers, so they’re one-sided. Modern historians have done hero’s work trying to correct the record by digging into primary sources, but myths persist: There is only so much data a professor and a team of research assistants can process, even when ancient ledgers and old diaries have been digitized.

Revisionist history is about […]

A Guide to Modern Nonfiction and Its Dangers

A Guide to Modern Nonfiction and Its Dangers

Gladwell did steal the secret to writing sizzling histories from Foucault. Like many attracted to beauty in my youth, and power in middle age, my reading habits have shifted. I used to read almost nothing but novels and poems; now I read books that establish the “rules” for doing things and the “secrets” nobody but the author (and the people he interviewed) know exist. As a regular contributor to Splice Today, I sometimes review this type of McJournalism when I can skim through it fast enough. Recently, I began to blurrily scan the pages of Kevin Roose’s new book […]

Building Community into Our Work

Building Community into Our Work

“Heart of the World,” Sandra Strait In NPQ ’s latest Remaking the Economy webinar, Lorena Andrade of La Mujer Obrera of El Paso, Texas; Pamela Standing of the Minnesota Indigenous Business Alliance ; and Ellen Vera of Co-op Cincy outlined some of the joys and challenges inherent in economy building in low-income, BIPOC communities. We’ve made the hour-long webinar freely available—and I encourage you to watch it . Here, I share a few highlights, both to whet your viewing appetite and because what these community leaders say merits attention.

Often, with national platforms like this one, there is a tendency […]

Reading ‘Futureproof’ and Thinking About the Ways That Technology Has Made Academic Work Worse

Reading ‘Futureproof’ and Thinking About the Ways That Technology Has Made Academic Work Worse

Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation by Kevin Roose

Published in March of 2021.

Futureproof is a book that is less about the future and more about the present.For close readers of the “robots will or will not take all the jobs genre” (count me in), Futureproof offers little that is original.Those convinced that the future will be one of technological unemployment will not feel any better after reading Futureproof . Nor will those persuaded that society will adjust to new technologies by creating new types of jobs feel any less confident in […]

The case for an all-expenses-paid, government-funded post-school gap year

The case for an all-expenses-paid, government-funded post-school gap year

You know who’s historically been terrible at making significant life choices?

Humans.

And at age 16, human feet haven’t even stopped growing! So, why are we out here deciding on a job path and, ultimately, the direction of our lives while strung out on canteen food, inherited parental stress and puberty? At school you’re both infantilised and required to think like an “adult”, stressed to within an inch of your fraying mental health and taught to stay seated for more hours than is quite frankly a vibe . THAT’S the environment where you’re handed some paperwork and told to pick what […]

“Made in the USA” – Episode 1: How We Got Here

Modern Machine Shop ’s first podcast series — a documentary style, limited series called “ Made in the USA ” — launched today, and it begins, appropriately enough, with a story. It’s a story that covers decades and played out slowly, just beneath the surface for many of us. But it’s one that has affected our lives and livelihoods, our way of life and, for a time, unsettled Americans’ confidence in our economy.

Understanding the challenges that face American manufacturing today requires taking a close look at what happened to manufacturing employment at the beginning of this century. This episode […]

Choosing to challenge gender inequality in the post-COVID future of work

Choosing to challenge gender inequality in the post-COVID future of work

Challenges to the future of work for women COVID-19 has touched almost every facet of life across the globe, radically affecting health, livelihoods, social interaction, and more. Beyond its more tangible impacts, COVID-19 has also upended the progress made in gender equality, with women in many countries disproportionately affected at work and home.

In Thailand, women account for a significant part of the workforce in industries that have been hard hit by the pandemic – about 65 percent in hospitality and services, and about 49 percent in manufacturing. With the pandemic-induced increase in responsibilities for care and housework, many women […]

The Trial of an Artificial Brain

The Trial of an Artificial Brain

Photo by Moose Photos from Pexels Background

Earlier in 2019, the World Bank released its World Development Report 2019[1]. This document includes evidence that Artificial Intelligence has continuously been increasing job opportunities. Its contributions outweighed the transient damage caused by the replacement of workers by Artificial Intelligent products. The report was an attempt to answer the rising concerns about the general effects of AI technologies on the future of human labor.

These concerns do not come out of the blue. In the early 1940s, Ford established the first automation department and triggered the ‘Automation’ era[2]. It was capable of doing […]