Abstract
This paper delves into the human factors in the “back-office” of artificial intelligence and of its data-intensive algorithmic underpinnings. We show that the production of AI is a labor-intensive process, which particularly needs the little-qualified, inconspicuous and low-paid contribution of “micro-workers” who annotate, tag, label, correct and sort the data that help to train and test smart solutions. We illustrate these ideas in the high-profile case of the automotive industry, one of the largest clients of digital data-related micro-working services, notably for the development of autonomous and connected cars. This case demonstrates how micro-work has a place in long supply chains, where tech companies compete with more traditional industry players. Our analysis indicates that the need for micro-work is not a transitory, but a structural one, bound to accompany the further development of the sector; and that its provision involves workers in different geographical and linguistic areas, requiring the joint study of multiple platforms operating at both global and local levels.
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.References
Autor, D. H. (2015). Why are there still so many jobs? The history and future of workplace automation. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 29(3), 3–30.
Bastin, G., & Tubaro, P. (2018). Le moment big data des sciences sociales. Revue française de sociologie, 59(3), 375–394.
Berg, J., Furrer, M., Harmon, E., Rani, U., & Silberman, M. S. (2018). Digital labour platforms and the future of work: Towards decent work in the online world. Report, Geneva: ILO.
Braverman, H. (1974). Labor and monopoly capital: The degradation of work in the twentieth century. New York: Monthly Review Press.
Brynjolfsson, E., & McAfee, A. (2014). The second machine age: Work, progress, and prosperity in a time of brilliant technologies. New York: Norton.
Casilli, A. A. (2017). Digital labor studies go global: Toward a digital decolonial turn. International Journal of Communication, 11, 3934–3954.
Casilli, A. A. (2019). En attendant les robots. EnquĂŞte sur le travail du clic. Paris: Editions du Seuil.
Cognilytica Research. (2019). Data Engineering, Preparation, and Labeling for AI. Report.
Difallah, D., Filatova, E., & Ipeirotis, P. G. (2018). Demographics and dynamics of Mechanical Turk workers. In Proceedings of WSDM 2018: The eleventh ACM international conference on web search and data mining (pp. 135–143). ACM.
Ekbia, H., & Nardi, B. (2017). Heteromation, and other stories of computing and capitalism. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Forde, C., Stuart, M. Joyce, S., Oliver, L., Valizade, D., Alberti, G., Hardy, K., Trappmann, V., Umney, C., & Carson, C. (2017). The social protection of workers in the collaborative economy. Report for European Parliament Employment and Social Affairs Committee.
Frey, C., & Osborne, M. (2017). The future of employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerisation? Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 114(C), 254–280.
Fuchs, C. (2019). Karl Marx in the age of big data capitalism. In D. Chandler & C. Fuchs (Eds.), Digital objects, digital subjects: Interdisciplinary perspectives on capitalism, labour and politics in the age of big data (pp. 53–71). London: University of Westminster Press.
Graham, M., Hjorth, I., & Lehdonvirta, V. (2017). Digital labour and development: impacts of global digital labour platforms and the gig economy on worker livelihoods. Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, 23(2), 135–162.
Gray, M., & Suri, S. (2017). The humans working behind the AI curtain. Harvard Business Review, 9, 2–5.
Irani, L. (2015). Difference and dependence among digital workers: The case of Amazon Mechanical Turk. South Atlantic Quarterly, 114, 225–234.
Irani, L. (2016). The labor that makes AI “magic”. White House and NYU: AINow Summit.
Kuek, S., Paradi-Guilford, C., Fayomi, T., Imaizumi, S., & Ipeirotis, P. (2015). The global opportunity in online outsourcing. Report, World Bank.
Le Ludec, C., Tubaro, P., & Casilli, A. (2019). How many people microwork in France? Estimating the size of a new labor force. Working paper. arXiv:1901.03889 [econ.GN].
Lehdonvirta, V., Kässi, O., Hjorth, I., Barnard, H., & Graham, M. (2019). The global platform economy: A new offshoring institution enabling emerging-economy microproviders. Journal of Management, 45(2), 567–599.
Ohnemus, J., Erdsiek, D., & Viete, S. (2016). Nutzung von Crowdworking durch Unternehmen: Ergebnisse einer ZEW-Unternehmensbefragung. Report, BMAS Forschungsbericht 473. Bundesministerium fĂĽr Arbeit und Soziales.
Ricardo, D. (1951 [1821]). On the principles of political economy and taxation. In P. Sraffa & M. H. Dobb (Eds.) Works of David Ricardo (Vol. 1). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Rochet, J., & Tirole, J. (2003). Platform competition in two-sided markets. Journal of the European Economic Association, 1, 990–1029.
Schmidt, F. A. (2019). Crowdproduktion von Trainingsdaten: Zur Rolle von Online-Arbeit beim Trainieren autonomer Fahrzeuge. Report, Hans-Böckler-Stiftung.
Star, S. L., & Strauss, A. (1999). Layers of silence, arenas of voice: The ecology of visible and invisible work. Computer Supported Cooperative Work, 8(1–2), 9–30.
Acknowledgements
Data used in this study are from the DiPLab (“Digital Platform Labor”) research project, co-funded by Maison des Sciences de l’Homme Paris-Saclay (2017); Force Ouvrière (2017), a workers’ union, through IRES (Social and Economic Research Institute); and France Stratégie (2018), a service of the French Prime Minister. We also thank Foule Factory and IsAHit for logistical support, and Inria for complementary funding.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tubaro, P., Casilli, A.A. Micro-work, artificial intelligence and the automotive industry. J. Ind. Bus. Econ. 46, 333–345 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40812-019-00121-1
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40812-019-00121-1