While we hear plenty of gloomy predictions about how the adoption of AI technologies will take away millions of jobs in the future, it’s already gutting labor rights and alienating workers right now.

Alexandra Mateescu and Aiha Nguyen are two of the researchers behind a new report on this matter, “Last Place in the AI-First Economy: How the AI Industry Relies on Worker Disempowerment.” The report shows that workers are facing an increasingly hostile environment as AI not only risks taking away jobs directly, but also corresponds with an erosion in worker’s rights and protections.

Alexandra Mateescu is a researcher at the Labor Futures initiative at the Data and Society Research Institute, publishing work that focuses on issues like digital worker surveillance, algorithmic inequality, and harmful practices from the tech industry.

Aiha Nguyen is Alexandra’s colleague at the Labor Futures initiative and director of the program, piloting research on the relationship between technology and labor.

This episode is brought to you by the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, a Convergence Headwaters member. Their podcast, Direct Democracy Diaries, is available now wherever you get podcasts.

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