GHOST WORK

“Ghost Work adeptly raises the alarm about an emerging type of dehumanizing work, where invisible workers serve as cogs in the great machine of our latest information technology, entirely beholden to software and artificial intelligence.” —Martin Ford, bestselling author of Rise of the Robots and Architects of Intelligence “An uncompromising, data-based, yet heartfelt exploration of how digital technologies have allowed corporations to write human beings even further out of the value equation, as well as how we can restore dignity and prosperity to the lives of the invisible workforce. The first step in building solidarity is simply knowing there are people out there.” —Douglas Rushkoff, author of Team Human and Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus “Ghost Work is a stunning book, just the wake-up call we need to shatter the credulous belief that artificial intelligence is ‘replacing' workers. As Gray and Suri masterfully demonstrate, work isn't disappearing in the age of AI; it is being hidden. Scrupulously researched and deeply humane, Ghost Work is at once a sobering reminder of what could happen if we allow algorithmic cruelty and exploitative labor practices to flourish and an inspiring call to defend the dignity and value of human labor.” —Virginia Eubanks, author of Automating Inequality “The Wachowskis got it wrong. Humans aren't batteries for The Matrix, we are computer chips. In this fascinating book, Mary Gray and Siddharth Suri show us just how integral human online task workers are to the development of AI and the seamless operation of all the great internet services. Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand our technology-infused future.” —Tim O'Reilly, CEO, O'Reilly Media “Mary Gray and Siddharth Suri show us the human face to ‘ghost work'—the invisible and often alienating piece work that makes today's digital economy run. The people working today for Mechanical Turk and similar platforms are the canaries in the coal mine, revealing how more and more of us will be working in the years to come.” —Henry Jenkins, Provost's Professor of Communication, Journalism, Cinematic Art, and Education, University of Southern California “Ghost Work portrays a world in which invisible armies of online workers are hired, tasked, managed, paid, and often fired by machines. This setting would make for gripping dystopian science fiction—were it not describing the present! This book convinces me that greater transparency and regulatory oversight will be crucial for ensuring that the future of work ‘works' well for platform workers, not just for the platforms that oversee them.” —David Autor, Ford Professor of Economics, MIT “Ghost Work is an instant classic. It is resonant of the great ethnographies that illuminated the manufacturing shop floor. But industries of the past relied on a lively community of people who worked, played, and lived together. The workers on the new digital assembly line are known neither to each other or to us. Their invisibility makes them ghosts. Gray and Suri enable us to see them, empathize with them, and recognize our own complicity in their situation. By emphasizing how even AI depends on human labor and by offering a rich account of the lives who provide that labor, the authors offer hope through a well-grounded tool kit of strategies for amelioration and action.” —Margaret Levi, professor of Political Science, Stanford University

“An uncompromising, data-based, yet heartfelt exploration of how digital technologies have allowed corporations to write human beings even further out of the value equation, as well as how we can restore dignity and prosperity to the lives of the invisible workforce. The first step in building solidarity is simply knowing there are people out there.” —Douglas Rushkoff, author of Team Human and Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus

Taiwan: Faces; Korea: Hans Media;

“The Wachowskis got it wrong. Humans aren't batteries for The Matrix, we are computer chips. In this fascinating book, Mary Gray and Siddharth Suri show us just how integral human online task workers are to the development of AI and the seamless operation of all the great internet services. Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand our technology-infused future.” —Tim O'Reilly, CEO, O'Reilly Media

Interview mit Mary Gray in Forschung und Technik_09_08_2019

“Ghost Work is groundbreaking, a painstaking portrait of an invisible world. We can only choose a different future of work if we truly see today's workers.” —Felicia Wong, President and CEO, Roosevelt Institute, Author, The Hidden Rules of Race: Barriers to an Inclusive Economy

MacArthur Fellow, Class of 2020: "Through her timely examinations of the ethical and societal implications of technological advances, Gray sheds light on overlooked or intentionally hidden areas of the digital economy and on the potential to shape more inclusive digital futures." Read more...

This revealing economic ethnography from anthropologist Gray and computer scientist Suri, both of whom work for Microsoft, sympathetically tells the stories of 'ghost workers' who assist computers in replicating human cognition. These workers sign on through clearinghouses such as Amazon's Mechanical Turk to perform tasks—writing subtitles for videos, identifying offensive content or animal pictures—remotely and for very low pay. Lack of transparency about the workers' existence, the authors argue, gives the impression that artificial intelligence alone is powering ride sharing apps, internet searches, and other contemporary conveniences...To combat exploitation, Gray and Suri call for benefits for workers, unions, and new clearinghouses that allow for human communication between employer and employee. This compassionate and informative study is a must-read for anyone interested in the future of work.