Antonio Casilli and Julian Posada were both invited by the independent media outlet Democracy Now! to discuss their research on the hidden human labor behind artificial intelligence. In the interview, they take a deep dive into the hidden AI data workforce; the men and women whose labor makes chatbots and large language models (LLMs) possible, and who are increasingly becoming the new factory workers of the digital economy. Drawing on their research in Kenya, Madagascar, and Venezuela, they explore the working conditions of these workers across global labor markets, highlighting the significant inequalities between countries and, most importantly, bringing workers’ own voices to the forefront as they fight for dignity, recognition, and better working conditions. To see Antonio Casilli’s Interview click here And to see Julian Posada’s interview click here

DiPLab associate, Julian Possada (Assistant Professor at Yale University) was recently interviewed by Seth Camillo and Caroline Risberg for the podcast The Internet is Crack. In his book, “Platform Extractivism: Data Work and the People Powering Artificial Intelligence“, forthcoming at the University of California Press in October 2026, he examines the often invisible labor that makes AI and digital platforms possible, focusing on the workers, data practices, and extractive processes that underpin today’s AI systems. In this one-hour-long podcast, Julian Possada discusses the hidden labour behind artificial intelligence, how platforms source work from workers in the Global South, what this type of work actually entails, and how it perpetuates colonial patterns. He draws a few examples from his books and discusses the reality of data workers in Venezuela, a country specifically targeted by data annotation platforms because of its widespread internet access and the inflation crisis that has been ongoing for several years. You can listen to the podcast on Youtube

For years, Julian Posada (Yale Assistant Professor and DiPLab research associate) has been one of the architects of the field of digital labor studies. From helping shepherd the transition from the European Network on Digital Labor (ENDL, 2017–2018) to the International Network on Digital Labor (INDL, 2019–present), to co-organizing three consecutive INDL conferences, he has been present at every stage of a research community finding its shape and its ambitions. Today, INDL has created several regional chapters, in Middle East and Africa, in Latin America, and now (thanks to Julian Posada) in North America, too. This foundation has its first public moment: a Symposium on Labor and Artificial Intelligence, hosted at Yale University on April 28 and 29, 2026. The event brings together scholars and practitioners to examine how workers are building, using, and pushing back against AI systems. The programme opens with a keynote by Julia Ticona and closes with a roundtable featuring organizers from across the platform economy. Researchers and doctoral students are especially encouraged to attend the doctoral colloquium on April 28 (1:00–5:30 PM, KT 401), where emerging scholars can workshop their research alongside peers ahead of the main symposium on April 29 (9:00 AM–5:00 PM, HQ 134).