STS scholars Lee Vinsel and Patrick McCrary organized a workshop to explore and critically examining the idea of the 4th Industrial Revolution. As part of a collection of essays coming out of the workshop, I’ve published “Hype, Profit, Labor, and Agency” .

“The hype of inevitable AI and total automation immobilizes AMT workers from demanding better wages or improvement to their work conditions. Like the threat of workers made available cheaply in other parts of the world, public assumptions about AI and automation immobilize grassroots, democratic participation in shaping the future of work. This hype and the broader narratives of novelty and disjuncture that often accompanies it can prematurely disarm existing ethical and justice frameworks by which citizens can make claims about technological futures.”