labor

AI capabilities double every six to seven months. The author points out that a small group of people are trying to make humans obsolete through automation, and calls on people to recognize and stop this trend.

Tech companies like Shift and Pronto are offering free services or payment to record people doing chores in order to gather training data for physical AI and robotics, raising privacy and ethical concerns.

Rockstar Games developers have formed a union with the IWGB to address labor issues and fight a legal battle over alleged union busting.

A reflective column connecting a new papal encyclical on AI to the historical 'Rerum Novarum' on industrial labor, arguing that human dignity must anchor the debate over AI-driven economic change.

The article reports that the Wikimedia Foundation fired the longtime lead developer of MediaWiki and disbanded the Community Tech team, both actions targeting union organizers, prompting Wikipedia editors to threaten a strike in solidarity while the Foundation holds substantial financial reserves.

Uber and Lyft drivers in Massachusetts have formed the first ride-share union in the United States, marking a significant development in gig-economy labor organizing.

Pope Leo XIV's first major encyclical, 'Magnifica Humanitas,' warns of AI risks to human dignity and calls for ethical frameworks in warfare, labor, and governance.

A philosophical essay warning that desirable labels on technological building blocks hide the potential for creating a 'torment nexus' of surveillance, lost jobs, and authoritarian control, urging readers to question whether they are building the world they want to live in.

A proposed benchmark suggests that when robots can economically manufacture clothing, they will be capable of replacing all human labor, as textile work requires high dexterity and low cost.

The article critiques the narrative of tech executives like Sam Altman and Elon Musk about AI leading to shorter workweeks and UBI, arguing that automation destroys the customer base needed for AI services, and draws historical parallels to indentured labor and the creation of the working consumer.

The author proposes using AI to scan signals from power grids, datacenters, and other sources to extract changes in power dynamics and generate better questions about the AI economy, rather than just answering existing questions.

The article argues that the phrase 'AI is just a tool' is a political strategy used by companies to disguise power dynamics, redistribute risk and labor, and neutralize critiques, highlighting how mandatory adoption and tracking create new norms without collective agreement.