The hidden work created by artificial intelligence programs

Artificial intelligence is often framed in terms of headline-grabbing technology and dazzling promise. But some of the workers who enable these programs -- the people who do things like code data, flag pictures, or work to integrate the programs into the workplace -- are often overlooked or undervalued. "This is a common pattern in the social studies of technology," said Madeleine Clare Elish, SM '10, a senior research scientist at Google. "A focus on new technology, the latest innovation, comes at the expense of the humans who are working to actually allow that innovation to function in the real world." Speaking at the recent EmTech Digital conference hosted by MIT Technology Review, Elish and other researchers said artificial intelligence programs often fail to account for the humans who incorporate AI systems into existing workflow, workers doing behind-the-scenes labor to make the programs run, and the people who are negatively affected by AI outcomes.