"Many of us believed we were simultaneously impersonating chatbots and teaching them how to replace us."

🚨NEW INQUIRY! Imagine sharing your private fantasies with what you believe is a bot that cannot judge or remember. Just that, on the other side, is a man in a one-room home in Nairobi, pretending to be an AI companion. That man is Michael, and this is his story: data-workers.org/michael/

Today, DWI publishes a powerful essay by @mgasia.bsky.social, who works impersonating an AI sex companion: data-workers.org/michael/ This piece offers a rare glimpse into the psychological and economic realities behind one of the fastest-growing sectors: AI-assisted intimacy.

How the change we need happens: The amazing @dataworkersinquiry.bsky.social with @milamiceli.bsky.social carving out "a space where data workers could investigate their own exploitation, tell their stories in their own words, organize, and fight—on their own terms." data-workers.org/about/how-to...

If you are interested in the methodology behind the Data Workers' Inquiry Project (@dataworkersinquiry.bsky.social), this is the paper for you. Research doesn't have to be exploitative.👇🏽

In sum, this work is not only a methodological account but a proposal for reorienting AI research toward worker-led knowledge rather than extraction. Read the full article here: ojs.aaai.org/index.php/AI...

Finally, WIRM fosters what Gramsci called "organic intellectuals" embedded in the material conditions and collective struggles of their class. It cultivates networks of solidarity and tools for analysis generated from within worker communities. See for instance: data-workers.org/DLA/

Second, we bring this approach into the AI domain. WIRM provides a way to illuminate the human labor underpinning AI systems while allowing workers to define the terms of that illumination. Our repository is proof of that: data-workers.org#Inquiries

First, we systematize Workers’ Inquiry as a Research Methodology (WIRM). We focus on its political grounding, its architecture, and its operationalization, offering a step-by-step guide, examples, and a discussion of challenges and tensions.

📣New paper! Thrilled to share the methodological recipe for @dataworkersinquiry.bsky.social in this article co-authored with @adiod.bsky.social @krystalkauffman.bsky.social Camilla Salim Wagner, Laurenz Sachenbacher @alexhanna.bsky.social & @timnitgebru.bsky.social 👉 ojs.aaai.org/index.php/AI...

🚨NEW🚨 from DAIR: Today we are releasing "Driven Down", a new report on how workplace technology enables Amazon to steal wages, hide labor, intensify poor working conditions, and evade responsibility. Read the full report here: drive.google.com/file/d/1yBxy...

A lack of security and protection is a major part of data workers’ lives. Read/watch excerpts from our collaborators — Oskarina, Ranta, and Alexis — on this topic.

Stories of data annotators and content moderators in Nairobi, Kenya Documentary by @dataworkersinquiry.bsky.social #AI peertube.dair-institute.org/w/gRTuLGE6VJ...

The DWI team attended this year’s INDL-8 Conference! Laurenz and Camilla shared theoretical and methodological insights on Data Workers’ Inquiry, while our amazing collaborators Kauna and Ephantus led a powerful panel on workers organizing and unionizing. 💪

Contenta de que perfiles como el de @milamiceli.bsky.social sea reconocido como uno de los más influyentes en temas de IA time.com/collections/... Su trabajo en @dataworkersinquiry.bsky.social ha arrojado luz sobre condiciones laborales de personas que trabajan en la sombra de la IA,en lo NO mágico

Who is Really Fueling your #AI? Join us on September 17 to discuss precarization and resistance in #datawork, with the @dataworkersinquiry.bsky.social, @milamiceli.bsky.social and @superrrnetwork.bsky.social. Don't miss your chance to meet some of the shadow workforce behind AI. buff.ly/dHMHXPV

Richard Mathenge, Mophat Okinyi & Kauna Malgwi were on the TIME/100 list. Fasica Berhane's story won the True Story award. Joan Kinyua & others created the Data Labelers Association. Kauna is working on trauma-aware mental health intervention. See more at www.dair-institute.org/projects/dat...

I thought the project was cool when Mila told me about the idea, but I didn’t understand how expansive it was going to be until I saw elements of the repository at data-workers.org. Just look at the diversity and quality of outputs: depth reports, animated shorts, documentaries, podcasts and more.

Mila is on the TIME 100/AI list because of her work on the Data Workers Inquiry project (@dataworkersinquiry.bsky.social) She was tired of writing *about* data workers, which is how one is supposed to conduct research in academia.

Timnit believed in me and my vision even before I was able to put it in words. I’m incredibly grateful to @dairinstitute.bsky.social for giving @dataworkersinquiry.bsky.social a home and to Timnit for her leadership, generosity, trust and support❤️

I am thrilled to be recognized by TIME as one of the 100 most influential people worldwide in the field of artificial intelligence for my work with @dataworkersinquiry.bsky.social. >> #TIME100AI time.com/time100ai I want to take this opportunity to share a few reflections on this work 👇🧵

Huge congrats to @milamiceli.bsky.social 🌟 This is a recognition to all of us making the Data Workers’ Inquiry project!

📣 𝗦𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘! We're excited to co-organize a transnational data worker assembly together with @superrrnetwork.bsky.social on September 16-17 in Berlin. While the first day is closed-door, we’ll host a public event on the 17th. 👉 Program and registration: www.weizenbaum-institut.de/news/detail/...

Dependency and vulnerability are part of what data workers face every day. Read quotes from our collaborators — Yasser, Ranta, Wilington, and Alexis — for a glimpse into what life is really like for data workers.

🚨 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗧𝗶𝗸𝗧𝗼𝗸 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗲! In a clear intimidation attempt, TikTok threatened to dismiss one of the organizers. Out of a team of more than 30 employees, it is precisely the worker who took part in the strike who is to be fired.

Don’t miss The Socially Conscious AI Podcast featuring @krystalkauffman.bsky.social as she dives into the realities of data workers and sheds light on the Data Workers’ Inquiry. Check it out! m.youtube.com/watch?v=WOhi...

Hey everyone! We just made a list on here for fellow colleagues, data workers, researchers, and advocates: 📋 bsky.app/profile/did:... Feel free to reply with names or handles you think should be included — we’ll keep updating it!

In Berlin will TikTok massenhaft Mitarbeitende durch eine KI ersetzen, doch die Beschäftigten wehren sich mit dem weltweit ersten Streik bei einem Social-Media-Konzern. Unsere Forscherin @milamiceli.bsky.social gab eine Einschätzung für @jacobinmagazin.bsky.social 👉 buff.ly/zfeZYDQ

TikTok management wants to lay off over 160 workers in Berlin as easily and cheaply as possible. After the first meeting of the conciliation committee, employees could be DISMISSED IMMEDIATELY. www.heise.de/en/news/Berl...

Today at the Point Sud 2025 conference on “Furthering Digital Sovereignty and Rights in Africa,” Dr. Adio-Adet Dinika presented “The Algorithmic Plantation: Digital Colonialism and Kenya’s AI Labor Force” at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS), South Africa.

🎉✨ Huge congrats to @fasica.bsky.social for being shortlisted for the True Story Award! Her brilliant piece on content moderation stood out among over 1000 submissions from around the world, placing in the top 3%. truestoryaward.org/story/508

Dicen que “la IA no destruye empleos; sólo los transforma”. Pero esa “transformación” de la que hablan es solo más precarización. Detrás de los algoritmos hay legiones de trabajadores precarizados e invisibilizados: los trabajadores de datos. @milamiceli.bsky.social @dataworkersinquiry.bsky.social

Exciting news! We’ve just launched “Organizing Across Borders” by Joan Kinyua - a data labeler, organizer, and president of the Data Labelers Association (DLA). In this inquiry, Joan reflects on the DLA’s formation and the cross-border solidarity that helped make it possible. data-workers.org/DLA/

🚨NEW INQUIRY! @joan1k.bsky.social from @datalabelers.bsky.social discusses beginnings, gratitude, and partnerships in this piece. @dataworkersinquiry.bsky.social is an active partner of the DLA, and we remain united in the fight for the rights of data workers worldwide! data-workers.org/DLA/

@milamiceli.bsky.social and @alexhanna.bsky.social at the Weizenbaum Institute yesterday to discuss Hanna’s and @emilymbender.bsky.social’s new book “The AI Con”.

@milamiceli.bsky.social holding a keynote today about Data Workers’ Inquiry at the “Countervailing Platform Power: Regulation, Organizing, and Intersectional Solidarities” conference in Florence, Italy.

@milamiceli.bsky.social joined @baratunde.com on Life with Machines to talk about the Data Workers’ Inquiry, AI impersonation, and more. Check it out on YouTube: youtu.be/4NSWFy11E8Q?...

Join us next week to talk about THE #AI CON! Alex Hanna unpacks the myths and marketing that surround today’s #AI discourse, and @milamiceli.bsky.social‬ brings in critical insights from @dataworkersinquiry.bsky.social‬ about the invisible labor behind AI systems. June 30, 6pm 👉 buff.ly/47fMwFf

Artificial AI is a video by Ruba, based on her personal experience as a data worker. She started during the pandemic, drawn in by the appeal of autonomy. What she found instead was constant pressure, unclear rules, rejected tasks, and no real voice.

On April 3 this year, over 2,000 content moderators in Barcelona were suddenly left without jobs. Meta canceled its contract with the outsourcing company Telus, with no prior notice to the 2,059 workers who had spent years filtering harmful and violent content to keep social media “safe.”

To highlight the workers who make AI possible, we must shine a light on this shadowy industry— which is exactly what TechEquity has done: dataworklandscape.org?utm_medium=s...

Caught up this week with @krystalkauffman.bsky.social and @adiod.bsky.social to plot what’s next for @dataworkersinquiry.bsky.social: new inquiries, new events, and some big ideas in the works. More soon!

Barcelona friends! Join us for “Data Workers: AI from the Ground Up” 🗓️ Wed, June 18 at IBEI (Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals) Part of the IV Global Digital Justice Conference

New Inquiry is live! Our co-researchers have identified the problems in data work. Now it is time to create solutions. Read on below!

Alert! We have a powerful mental health intervention designed by data workers, for data workers. Drawing on her experience as a former content moderator and trained psychologist, our brilliant co-researcher Kauna Malgwi created a much-needed support system rooted in lived experience. Take a look 👇🏾

🚨New Inquiry!! Today, we present Kauna’s mental healthcare proposal tailored specifically to data workers - addressing PTSD, burnout, depression, and more. Her plan delivers a way forward for those affected and a call for change. data-workers.org/kauna/ #MentalHealthInTech #DataWorkersInquiry

Our brand NEW INQUIRY just dropped! Every day, data workers, content moderators, annotators, and labellers confront some of the internet’s most harmful content to keep digital spaces safe for others.

@adiod.bsky.social presenting at the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) Flashpoint Symposium in Bremen. June 4th, 2025

Mind Over Moderation is a podcast by two anonymous content moderators (Doe and Joe) in Germany, exposing the hidden cost of keeping social media “clean.” As migrant workers for an outsourcing firm, they endure low pay, constant surveillance, and disturbing content—without support or security.

Visit www.data-workers.org to view Sakine's contribution to the Data Workers' Inquiry. While you're there, check out the whole repository!