The EU's outsized influence on tech regulation beyond its borders raises a lot of political issues: e.g. the UK having little ability to effectively regulate AI. Besides this, we also discuss how China approaches AI ethics and regulation differently. I'm joined by Oxford University researcher Huw Roberts.
Robots are designed to elicit emotions in us, especially empathy. I chat to philosopher Dr Joanna Malinowska about the benefits, and dangers, of robots designed to be cute. That's especially in the context of sex robots, and the treatment of women.
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How can religious ethical traditions make sense of dating apps and sex robots? I chat to Kate Ott about her new book, 'Sex, Tech, and Faith'.
One of the key drivers of investment in autonomous vehicles and other kinds of automation is hype. With all the headlines about failings in the crypto industry this week, it's clear hype can be dangerous and self-fulfilling. So how can we understand it?
In this episode from the archives, we chat to Gemma Milne.
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I'm joined by Mardiya Siba Yahaya to talk about her report on how such HR defenders deal with censorship, authoritarianism and societal pressure.
Also check out our recent episode 'Digital Safety for Women in the Workplace'.
We all have a relationship with recommendation algorithms like Spotify or TikTok, but how do different people manage that relationship? How can we understand TikTok addiction? And how do these recommendation algorithms from global companies affect and play into local culture? Today I'm joined by Ignacio Siles from Costa Rica to talk about his fascinating upcoming book, Living with Algorithms.
Digital doorbells are increasingly common, and, at first glance, seemingly harmless. But a new report sheds light on how they are often used to surveil, and even punish delivery workers, not just by their bosses, but by doorbell owners. I am joined from New York by the report's authors, Aiha Nguyen and Eve Zelickson from Data and Society.
You can read the full report here.
Music from Coma Media via PixelBay
AI Regulation and the Climate Crisis are both huge, seemingly different challenges, but they're both underpinned by the same question: how can we tackle them without resorting to authoritarianism? My guest today, tech philosopher Mark Coeckelbergh, offers a new, more constructive way of thinking about these challenges.
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Without support from political representatives, legislation on issues like privacy just doesn't happen. Today I'm joined by legislative activist and former journalist Hayley Tsukayama to talk about how, in the gridlock of American democracy, progress on privacy legislation can still be made.
1.18: Hayley's background as a tech journalist in DC
5.10: Why does privacy matter?
8.45: Privacy data and abortion rights
13.05: What do Utah, California and Connecticut all have in common?
23.50: Why is the US the world leader on tech but so slow on privacy legislation?
26.30: Attempts at federal privacy legislation
Is work just a way to pay the bills, or is it fundamental to what it means to be human? And with technological change, do we need a new kind of work ethic?
Today I'm joined by philosopher of work Jean-Philippe Deranty to reflect on our cultural, societal and philosophical attitudes to work.
4.48: Neoliberalism's Paradoxical Relationship with Work
23.30: Cultural attitudes to work: UK vs France
26.20: A New Kind of Work Ethic
33.40: Neoliberal attitudes to current changes in the labour market
41.30: What is the centrality of the work?
52.20: Psychological and social centrality of work
57.40: What the pandemic taught us about the significance of work
The Work Repository: https://onwork.edu.au/
In many parts of the world, women can face harassment online, and understandably, that can discourage them from using online platforms. But in a world where platforms can be really useful and important in work, that can put women at a serious disadvantage. My guest today is working to tackle that problem in Africa.
4.45: Concerns about women's digital safety in the workplace
13.25: How legacy media can help improve this situation
25.40: Engaging with Big Tech
Irene works for Pollicy, which you can find more about here: https://pollicy.org/
Let us know what you'd like to hear more about in our new season! Drop us a message on Twitter (@EthicsTechPod) or an email at ethicsforachangingworldpodcast@gmail.com
Trade unions are not the force they once were in Australia. But in the struggle for protections and rights for gig workers, could unionisation be the solution?
Joining me to discuss how to reform trade unions to face declining membership and the gig economy is Professor Anthony Forsyth, author of The Future of Unions and Worker Representation: The Digital Picket Line.
5.25: Neoliberalism and trade unions
9.59: How has the gig economy changed the game?
26.20: Can unions succeed in the platform economy?
29.30: How to improve wage bargaining
36.40: The future of trade unions
With the gig economy, algorithmic management, and the internet, trade unions are having to adapt. In this episode on labour relations in China, I chat to Kevin Lin about how internet memes are affecting labour relations, what an effective trade union should look like, and China's tech crackdown.
5.15: What should a trade union look like?
9.40: Attempts at trade union reform
18.10: Workers' views on their trade union
23.05: 996 working practices in China and the tech crackdown
30.40: Internet Memes and work culture
Quantification and algorithmic management of workers gives employers a huge amount of data, but it isn't properly protected. Joining me to talk about changing that is Aiha Nguyen, Labor Futures Director at Data and Society.
5:00 Why focus on algorithmic management not automation?
9:05 What makes it easier to shift risks onto workers?
11:30 Employee data privacy
17:05 What we get wrong in privacy policy
What does evermore tracking and surveillance mean for workers?
I'm joined by Dr Phoebe V. Moore, a Senior Policy Adviser at the International Labour Organisation and Professor of Management at the University of Essex.
2.15: Origins of quantification
7.22: Algorithms and responsibility in management
13.15: Is productivity (especially in ideas-generating and teamwork-based work) actually measurable?
20:10: Who are AI Trainers?
27.45: Automation and content moderation
What is gig work like in Africa, and how does it exacerbate existing gender and socioeconomic inequalities?
To discuss this, I am joined by Dr Anwar, Lecturer in African Studies and International Development at Edinburgh University. He's also the author of a new book, 'The Digital Continent'.
1.17: Sketch of the Gig Economy in Africa
4.51: Why there's a huge gender divide in Platform Work
6.33: What's new about Gig Work compared to traditional informal work
11:40: How accurate is the narrative of freedom and flexibility?
16.32: How the gig economy shifts risks onto workers
25.09: Possibilities for planetary labour organisation
Has the gig economy helped or worsened conditions for domestic workers, who are disproportionately women?
Domestic workers lack some of the legal protections that other workers have. Given the legal status of gig workers as self-employed contractors, does this give them more flexibility or just even fewer employment rights? I am joined by Dr Natalie Sedacca, soon to be Assistant Professor in Employment Law at Durham University.
3:30: How legally protected are gig economy workers?
9.15: Protections for domestic workers
13:40: Is platform-based work better or worse for domestic workers?
16.28: Why the gig economy is much less flexible for these workers than other kinds of work
21.30: How some workers have tried to organise
23:20: Self-employed contractors vs competition law
How do we make sure that innovation is used to benefit workers, and not just increase surveillance of them?
To talk about their book 'Your Boss is an Algorithm', I am joined by Antonio Aloisi, Assistant Professor at IE Law School, and Valerio de Stefano, Associate Professor at Osgoode Law School. In this wide-ranging episode, we chat about politics, law, algorithmic management, and the gig economy.
3:00 Why aren't more jobs already automated?
10:32: Will the gig economy be the new normal?
14:24: Politics and regulation of the gig economy
22:30: How can innovation be made to benefit workers?
32:40: What is a Future Proof Labour Law?
What is it like for workers in the platform economy, and how does this differ across the world? In this episode, I am joined by Sarrah Kassem, Lecturer in Political Economy at Tuebingen University.
2.45: What is it like working for Amazon Mechanical Turk?
7.08: Remote work and outsourcing
9.50: How the platform economy organises workers
19.38: How workers reclaim their agency
32:50: How workers rate the companies themselves
How is technology changing work across the world? And what impact will it have on inequality? I chat to Dr Jiwei Qian and Professor Imraan Valodia about automation and its widespread social impacts in these two very different contexts.
3:54: Automation in China
9:17: Why local governments are encouraging automation
13.51: Impact on inequality
27:53: How framing of automation overlooks the Global South
44:33: Gender inequality and automation in Southern Africa