Micro-work, artificial intelligence and the automotive industry

Paola Tubaro and Antonio Casilli ()
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Antonio Casilli: I3 SES - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation de Telecom Paris - Télécom Paris - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris - I3 - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Télécom ParisTech

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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.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence; Micro-work; Automotive industry; Digital platform economy; Organization of work (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-06-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-big, nep-ind, nep-pay and nep-tid
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-02148979v1
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

Published in Journal of Industrial and Business Economics = Economia e politica industriale, 2019, 46, pp.333-345. ⟨10.1007/s40812-019-00121-1⟩

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Journal Article: Micro-work, artificial intelligence and the automotive industry (2019)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02148979

DOI: 10.1007/s40812-019-00121-1

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