Data Production Labor
Installation series from the Institute of Human Obsolescence
Data Production Labor
Installation series
Despite seemingly moving towards a society without human work, we have started to perform new forms of invisible labour. Human-produced data is a resource already extracted by Big Tech, producing vast amounts of capital. This new role that humans have taken in society is obscured by promises imposed by Big Tech. Why aren't we, the data workers, capitalising from it?
Data Production Labor #1
Installation
Exploring the value of humans' attention and actions while performing everyday activities in social media such as scrolling through the news media feed. Participants of Data Production Labour #1 reveal their invisible labour for the Big Data industry by just scrolling through their social media feed. A sensor collects data from the hand movements while using social apps, an emotion-recognition software looks at the face and registers the visceral response to what is seen on the screen. Through this process and the correlations it creates, a receipt is produced that enables participants to demand a payment from those companies. The installation invites participants to perform a working shift of 2 minutes in order to reveal the economic value of their production of data.
Data Production Labor #2
Installation
Exploring the value of actions performed by using Captcha systems while performing everyday life activities such as browsing the web. We problematise the narrative of Captcha systems being presented as a service to verify that "you are not a robot". The installation reveals the hidden dynamics of extraction of labour of these systems, particularly how this labour is being used to train image recognition technologies, also revealing how Google secretly sold this technology to the US-Department of Defense to be used in the drone program. The installation invites participants to perform a working shift filling captchas, and, by doing so, helps them reveal their unknowingly complicity with the military operations of the US drone program.
Data Production Labor #3
Installation
Exploring the value of humans' voice interactions with home assistants in everyday life and the value extracted of images provided to AI image recognition systems. We problematise the price of convenience of such systems and the larger economic and technological systems that are being developed by our use. The installation invites participants to interact with Alexa and have a conversation about its economic model, meanwhile realising that this interaction is improving Alexas’ skills. After a few interactions, Alexa asks the participant for permission to submit their image to the image recognition services of Microsoft, whose AI is being improved by every image sent. Alexa speaks out loud the outcomes that Microsofts’ AI analyses from the image.
speculative.capital
Discussion series
Series of public discussions and intervention in the entry space of Stroom Den Haag, unpacking our work and research. The sessions host guests from different fields surrounding areas and themes related to our research.
Discussing the impacts of the automation of labor, the ownership and capitalization of data, new forms of organization emerging from the scenario of human obsolescence, and the future dynamics between human and machine.