Your Boss Is an Algorithm
Artificial Intelligence, Platform Work and Labour
Published on 14. July 2022
Book
Hardback
240 pages
978-1-5099-5317-2 (ISBN)
Description
What effect do robots, algorithms, and online platforms have on the world of work? Using case studies and examples from across the EU, the UK, and the US, this book provides a compass to navigate this technological transformation as well as the regulatory options available, and proposes a new map for the era of radical digital advancements.
From platform work to the gig-economy and the impact of artificial intelligence, algorithmic management, and digital surveillance on workplaces, technology has overwhelming consequences for everyone's lives, reshaping the labour market and straining social institutions. Contrary to preliminary analyses forecasting the threat of human work obsolescence, the book demonstrates that digital tools are more likely to replace managerial roles and intensify organisational processes in workplaces, rather than opening the way for mass job displacement.
Can flexibility and protection be reconciled so that legal frameworks uphold innovation? How can we address the pervasive power of AI-enabled monitoring? How likely is it that the gig-economy model will emerge as a new organisational paradigm across sectors? And what can social partners and political players do to adopt effective regulation?
Technology is never neutral. It can and must be governed, to ensure that progress favours the many. Digital transformation can be an essential ally, from the warehouse to the office, but it must be tested in terms of social and political sustainability, not only through the lenses of economic convenience. Your Boss Is an Algorithm offers a guide to explore these new scenarios, their promises, and perils.
From platform work to the gig-economy and the impact of artificial intelligence, algorithmic management, and digital surveillance on workplaces, technology has overwhelming consequences for everyone's lives, reshaping the labour market and straining social institutions. Contrary to preliminary analyses forecasting the threat of human work obsolescence, the book demonstrates that digital tools are more likely to replace managerial roles and intensify organisational processes in workplaces, rather than opening the way for mass job displacement.
Can flexibility and protection be reconciled so that legal frameworks uphold innovation? How can we address the pervasive power of AI-enabled monitoring? How likely is it that the gig-economy model will emerge as a new organisational paradigm across sectors? And what can social partners and political players do to adopt effective regulation?
Technology is never neutral. It can and must be governed, to ensure that progress favours the many. Digital transformation can be an essential ally, from the warehouse to the office, but it must be tested in terms of social and political sustainability, not only through the lenses of economic convenience. Your Boss Is an Algorithm offers a guide to explore these new scenarios, their promises, and perils.
Reviews / Votes
An enjoyable read from cover to cover and addresses issues that are relevant to readers from all professions, whether they have an interest in law or not. We are all impacted by the world of work, and Aloisi and De Stefano's book makes a meaningful contribution to the conversation. * Osgoode Hall Law Journal * Technology is fundamentally revolutionising the world of work - in this magisterial contribution, Aloisi and De Stefano traverse the impact of innovation on jobs, from the prospect of full automation to platform work and future-proofing labour law. It will be of great value to scholars and practitioners in law, labour market economics, and beyond. * Jeremias Adams-Prassl, Professor of Law, Oxford University, UK * Your Boss is an Algorithm is an indispensable resource to anyone thinking about how to understand and govern technology at work. Aloisi and De Stefano provide brilliant-and urgent-analysis of platform labor and the role of artificial intelligence in constraining our collective futures. But more critically, they provide a 'future-proof' framework to regulate innovation. * Veena Dubal, Professor of Law, University of California Hastings College of the Law, USA * Most valuable resource for scholars and practitioners in law, labor economics, and related fields. [It] offers a comprehensive, exquisitely written, and thought-provoking exploration of the digital transformation of work and what it means for workers. * Labor History * Aloisi and De Stefano offer an important contribution to prevent the displacement of labour and prioritize the wellbeing of the worker in an era of rapid technological change. * Organization Studies * Your Boss Is an Algorithm significantly contributes to ongoing debates concerning the impact of new AI technology on social life in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The authors thoughtfully raise important concerns about the impact of AI-driven technological change on the future of work and how to protect workers' basic rights and social life, such as the potential economic and social inequality exacerbated by AI technology and automation. * Industrial Law Journal *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
460 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5099-5317-2 (9781509953172)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Antonio Aloisi | Valerio De Stefano
Your Boss Is an Algorithm
Artificial Intelligence, Platform Work and Labour
E-Book
07/2022
1st Edition
Hart Publishing
€26.49
Available for download
Persons
Antonio Aloisi is Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow and Assistant Professor of European and Comparative Labour Law at IE Law School, Madrid, Spain.
Valerio De Stefano is Canada Research Chair in Innovation, Law and Society, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Canada.
Valerio De Stefano is Canada Research Chair in Innovation, Law and Society, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Canada.
Content
Introduction
1. Navigating Uncharted Waters
I. A Future Without Work? Raining on the 'Full Automation' Parade
A. The 'Robocalypse' is Postponed to a Later Date
II. The Digital is Political. Adopting a 'Human in Command' Approach
2. A Changing Labour Market
I. The Consequences for the 'Jobs that Remain'
II. Technology at Work
A. Smart Robots, IoT and Manufacturing: Mind the Machines with Minds
B. Remote Work, Out of Sight and Out of Place? Beyond the Pandemic Panopticon
C. Selective Affinities: Matchmaking is the New Recruiting
III. Work at the Service of Technology
A. 'People are Numbers': Count or be Counted
B. Working under the Algorithmic Boss
C. Beating AI at its Own Game
3. Social Rights in the Digital Age
I. What We Talk About When We Talk About 'Platform Work' (And Why Do We Talk About it So Much?)
II. 'What is Mine is Yours'. Doublespeak and the Mythology of Sharing
A. Workers on Tap and Untapped Appetites
B. The Platform Paradigm, Rethinking the Master-Server Dialectic
C. The European Way: Strengthening the Social Dimension Step by Step
III. Labour Law between Obsolescence and Resistance
A. Regulation, Flexibility and the 'Spirit' of Innovation
B. Moving Towards a Universal Model of Protection for Modern Times?
C. The Big Family of Non-Standard Forms of Employment
Conclusions: A Job Well Done
I. Future-Proof Labour Law
A. Universal Basic Income, Radical Measures in Search of Sustainability
B. Collective Voice versus Digital Despotism: Negotiating the Algorithm
C. And They Lived Happily and Connected Ever after: Saving the Digital Transformation from Itself
1. Navigating Uncharted Waters
I. A Future Without Work? Raining on the 'Full Automation' Parade
A. The 'Robocalypse' is Postponed to a Later Date
II. The Digital is Political. Adopting a 'Human in Command' Approach
2. A Changing Labour Market
I. The Consequences for the 'Jobs that Remain'
II. Technology at Work
A. Smart Robots, IoT and Manufacturing: Mind the Machines with Minds
B. Remote Work, Out of Sight and Out of Place? Beyond the Pandemic Panopticon
C. Selective Affinities: Matchmaking is the New Recruiting
III. Work at the Service of Technology
A. 'People are Numbers': Count or be Counted
B. Working under the Algorithmic Boss
C. Beating AI at its Own Game
3. Social Rights in the Digital Age
I. What We Talk About When We Talk About 'Platform Work' (And Why Do We Talk About it So Much?)
II. 'What is Mine is Yours'. Doublespeak and the Mythology of Sharing
A. Workers on Tap and Untapped Appetites
B. The Platform Paradigm, Rethinking the Master-Server Dialectic
C. The European Way: Strengthening the Social Dimension Step by Step
III. Labour Law between Obsolescence and Resistance
A. Regulation, Flexibility and the 'Spirit' of Innovation
B. Moving Towards a Universal Model of Protection for Modern Times?
C. The Big Family of Non-Standard Forms of Employment
Conclusions: A Job Well Done
I. Future-Proof Labour Law
A. Universal Basic Income, Radical Measures in Search of Sustainability
B. Collective Voice versus Digital Despotism: Negotiating the Algorithm
C. And They Lived Happily and Connected Ever after: Saving the Digital Transformation from Itself