Reposted by Krystal KauffmanGhost in the Machine @ghostdoc2026.bsky.social · 06/05/2026We are THRILLED to announce DAIR x GHOST fundraiser: if you haven't seen the film - or if you have - May 10 - 13 pay what you can to rent GHOST IN THE MACHINE on Kinema, all proceeds go to the freshest research in the space! Register and rent: notaidoc.com/dairxghost 11814
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanArte es Ética @arteesetica.bsky.social · 08/05/2026«La industria de la IA depende precisamente de los trabajadores a los que explota» 🎯 @karenhao.bsky.social Tremendo informe de @moreperfectunion.bsky.social sobre los «Talleres Clandestinos de IA» y el trabajo oculto de los dataworkers @krystalkauffman.bsky.social 🙌 www.youtube.com/watch?v=aooi...youtube.comI Tracked Down the Hidden Workers Secretly Powering ChatGPTYouTube video by More Perfect Union 11911
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanGhost in the Machine @ghostdoc2026.bsky.social · 13/03/2026Check out the trailer for GHOST IN THE MACHINE, coming soon to PBS and your screen! This feature documentary features 40 generous and brilliant AI experts, historians, philosophers, sociologists, journalists and thinkers discussing their work with @valerieveatch.bsky.social.youtube.comGHOST IN THE MACHINE (2026) OFFICIAL TRAILERYouTube video by Ghost in the Machine 410449
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanTech Policy Press @techpolicypress.bsky.social · 26/02/2026The AI boom runs on invisible labor, writes Krystal Kauffman, a research fellow with the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR). Underpaid workers in Kenya, the US, and beyond are unknowingly training intelligence systems. This isn't just an ethics problem—it's a consent problem, she says.techpolicy.pressDone Data Work? You Might Have Worked With the US Military Without Knowing.As data workers organize around the world, they need to push for change on what appears to be a major ethical oversight, writes Krystal Kauffman. 3139
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanNE Ohio Regional Sewer District @neorsd.org · 06/02/2026another year of us not running a super bowl ad 432530736
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanHypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 06/02/2026According to an organizer, “all signatories are full-time employees, and nearly 30% are Google Cloud workers.”businessinsider.com800 Google employees demand an end to any cloud contracts with ICE and CBPThe petition also called for executives to protect vulnerable Google employees, "from cafeteria workers to data center employees." 3735200
Krystal Kauffman @krystalkauffman.bsky.social · 06/02/2026New Inquiry!!! Have you ever found yourself trying to explain an issue to a chatbot, only to wish you could speak to a human? What if I told you the chatbot you were talking to was actually a human pretending to be a chatbot? Read Clara and B's short comic art the link below 👇 061
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanGhost in the Machine @ghostdoc2026.bsky.social · 30/01/2026To hopefully do justice to this issue, we're bringing together @dairinstitute.bsky.social's @milamiceli.bsky.social & @krystalkauffman.bsky.social with @mophatokinyi.bsky.social & Richard Mathenge, cofounders of the Techworker Community Africa and former content moderators. We hope you'll join us! 041
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanData Workers’ Inquiry @dataworkersinquiry.bsky.social · 28/01/2026🚨 NEW INQUIRY!! A Brazilian former TikTok moderator, pseudonymized as Lúcio, analyzes the systems designed to extract ever-growing productivity from content moderators and how they operate to harm workers. Download and read the report at data-workers.org/lucio/ 093
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanThe Maybe @themaybe.org · 22/01/2026@alixdunn.com and @valerieveatch.bsky.social will chat through questions of AI power with @shengokai.blacksky.app, @krystalkauffman.bsky.social, @milamiceli.bsky.social, @mophatokinyi.bsky.social, @drtanksley.bsky.social, Thema Monroe-White, and Richard Mathenge. Anyone can tune in online!collab.sundance.orgTackling the Ethics of AI through the Making of GHOST IN THE MACHINE with Valerie Veatch 032
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanMilagros Miceli @milamiceli.bsky.social · 25/11/2025📣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... 26426
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanData Workers’ Inquiry @dataworkersinquiry.bsky.social · 28/07/2025TikTok 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...heise.deBerlin: Tiktok-employees going on strike against massive job cutsGerman Tiktok censors have trained an AI that is now taking their jobs. Verdi wants to talk, Tiktok doesn't. There was a warning strike on Wednesday. 136
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanChristian Strippel @strippel.bsky.social · 03/07/2025Over the past months, I had the privilege to be part of a great team of scholars, practitioners, and data workers who developed ethical principles for academic data work requesters. These principles have now been published @weizenbauminstitut.bsky.social: www.weizenbaum-institut.de/publikatione... 1117
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanMilagros Miceli @milamiceli.bsky.social · 01/07/2025🚨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/data-workers.orgOrganizing Across Borders, by Joan KinyuaThe Data Labelers Association is developing mutual support structures and fighting for better working conditions. This inquiry recounts our path to founding it and acknowledges our ongoing partnership... 0138
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanMilagros Miceli @milamiceli.bsky.social · 13/06/2025Caught 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! 097
Krystal Kauffman @krystalkauffman.bsky.social · 05/06/2025New Inquiry is live! Our co-researchers have identified the problems in data work. Now it is time to create solutions. Read on below! 042
Krystal Kauffman @krystalkauffman.bsky.social · 05/06/2025🚨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 #DataWorkersInquirydata-workers.orgA Mental Health Intervention for Data Workers, by Kauna Ibrahim MalgwiA scalable mental health intervention designed for data workers, grounded in hands‑on insight and evidence‑based practice from my dual perspective as a former content moderator and a registered clinic... 286
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanThe Distributed AI Research (DAIR) Institute @dairinstitute.bsky.social · 15/05/2025🔇🔇🔇Join us for an honest conversation with some of the people forging a better digital future. Event will be recorded for those who can't make it. ⏰ Thursday May 30th at 10am PDT/1pm EDT ➡️ Register at www.eventbrite.com/e/imagining-... More info on our amazing speakers below🧵 15624
Krystal Kauffman @krystalkauffman.bsky.social · 23/05/2025Follow the Data Labelers Association here 👉 @datalabelers.bsky.social 074
Krystal Kauffman @krystalkauffman.bsky.social · 21/05/2025Visit www.data-workers.org to view Sakine's contribution to the Data Workers' Inquiry. While you're there, check out the whole repository! 031
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanData Workers’ Inquiry @dataworkersinquiry.bsky.social · 27/04/2025Wilington Shitawa is a former data worker and quality analyst who has worked at Cloud Factory and Sama in Nairobi, Kenya. Drawing from his personal experiences and interviews with fellow workers Andrea, Derrick, and Edwin, he created the comic „Click Captives: The Unseen Struggle of Data Workers“. 135
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanData Workers’ Inquiry @dataworkersinquiry.bsky.social · 02/05/2025“Safe data work demands better pay, better working conditions, and a safe, supportive environment that helps workers deal with the emotional toll of the job.” Fasica Berhane Gebrekidan, data worker and DWI community researcher 022
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanData Workers’ Inquiry @dataworkersinquiry.bsky.social · 07/05/2025In her report “If I Had Another Job, I Would Not Accept Data Annotation Tasks,” Roukaya al-Hammada highlights the precarious working conditions of Syrian refugees in Lebanon involved in data annotation. 174
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanData Workers’ Inquiry @dataworkersinquiry.bsky.social · 14/05/2025In “The Impact of Gift Card Payments on MTurk Workers”, Alexis Chávez reveals how many MTurk workers —depending on where they live— are only paid in Amazon gift cards deposited into their Amazon.com balance. 185
Krystal Kauffman @krystalkauffman.bsky.social · 11/03/2025Today I'm announcing my departure from Turkopticon, where I've been the lead organizer for the last few years. I'll be dedicating my time to research and advocacy with DAIR, pushing boundaries in ways that are personally and professionally fulfilling. Thanks to all who have supported me! 050
Krystal Kauffman @krystalkauffman.bsky.social · 04/02/2025Happy to join @gleemie.bsky.social on this list! I see a lot of brilliant women here - congrats to all! womeninaiethics.org/the-list/of-...womeninaiethics.org2025 | Women in AI Ethics™ 094
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanThe Distributed AI Research (DAIR) Institute @dairinstitute.bsky.social · 28/01/2025"Generative AI will always need humans"...says @krystalkauffman.bsky.social. Dylan Baker agrees: “It’s a well-crafted marketing strategy on the part of the platforms to claim that one day AI will no longer need humans.” voxeurop.eu/en/artificia...voxeurop.euNot-so-artificial intelligence: the human workers who power AIInvisible, isolated from one another, and with little income security – such is the lot of data workers. And yet without them, there'd be no ChatGPT, Midjourney or Gemini. 083
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanMarisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 27/01/2025NEW — OMB temporarily pauses all agency grants and loans programs. Per copy of memo: "The use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve." 62465832670
Krystal Kauffman @krystalkauffman.bsky.social · 24/01/2025Put this on your calendar - We're looking forward to seeing you on Feb 13! 022
Krystal Kauffman @krystalkauffman.bsky.social · 17/01/2025I'm in an Uber (I know, but there was no other option) and I see this in the door. Not only is this my first ever female driver, but I've never seen this in cars driven by men. 010
Krystal Kauffman @krystalkauffman.bsky.social · 14/01/2025Thank you, @sklovig.bsky.social, for sharing this piece again. I stand by what I said now more than ever! 151
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanTimnit Gebru @timnitgebru.blacksky.app · 07/01/2025We're hoping to organize a hopeful virtual event to get us to think our possible technological futures, and have a creative workshop. Stay tuned. In the mean time, read our Possible Futures Series. If you have thoughts on what you'd like to see from the event, comment below. 21427102
Reposted by Krystal Kauffman404 Media @404media.co · 08/01/2025Facebook is censoring 404 Media stories about Facebook's censorship 🔗 www.404media.co/facebook-is-... 25973272314
Krystal Kauffman @krystalkauffman.bsky.social · 08/01/2025Wonderful interview with Dr. Milagros Miceli! morningexpress.in/milagros-mic...morningexpress.inMilagros Miceli, researcher: “It is a lie that AI is going to automate everything. “It needs the manual and precarious work of millions of people”Artificial intelligence (AI) is not as automatic as it is preached. This technology works thanks to powerful computers that execute calculations on extensive 070
Krystal Kauffman @krystalkauffman.bsky.social · 07/01/2025Waymo? More like Way-NO www.instagram.com/reel/DEhgF7y...instagram.comLogin • InstagramWelcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world. 000
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanMeron Estefanos @meron.bsky.social · 18/12/2024On this International Day of Migrants, I dream of a future where we use technology to heal wounds instead of creating new ones. A future where we use our advancements to address one of the most heart-wrenching aspects of forced displacement. www.dair-institute.org/blog/eritrea...dair-institute.orgClosure for Families of the MissingThe Distributed AI Research Institute is a space for independent, community-rooted AI research, free from Big Tech’s pervasive influence. 154
Krystal Kauffman @krystalkauffman.bsky.social · 18/12/2024Please read more about stories like the one below here: www.data-workers.org www.theguardian.com/media/2024/d... 060
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanTurkopticon @turkopticon.bsky.social · 14/12/2024Sign up here: blog.turkopticon.net?page_id=653 021
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanAlex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 10/12/2024Pre-order alert, cover, and website reveal for our book, THE AI CON! (with @emilymbender.bsky.social) It's out for release on May 13, 2025! thecon.aithecon.aiTHE AI CONHow to Fight Big Tech's Hype and Create the Future We Want 32425117
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanTurkopticon @turkopticon.bsky.social · 04/12/2024Our original campaign and a fight we will never give up on, mass rejections. Read our latest newsletter article delving a little into our battle with Amazon. blog.turkopticon.net?p=3845blog.turkopticon.netMass rejections are still very real - TurkopticonMass rejections remain a significant and frustrating issue for many workers in online platforms like Amazon Mechanical Turk. Have you ever experienced a situation at work where an issue spanned multip... 034
Krystal Kauffman @krystalkauffman.bsky.social · 10/12/2024Looking forward to seeing data workers on 12/17! 052
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanThe Distributed AI Research (DAIR) Institute @dairinstitute.bsky.social · 04/12/2024We'll still be busting AI hype as we wind down in December. Join @alexhanna.bsky.social & @emilymbender.bsky.social in the next iteration of Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 this Monday December 9 at 12pm pacific. Live Stream: www.twitch.tv/dair_institute Past Episodes: www.dair-institute.org/maiht3k/ 14111
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanWIRED @wired.com · 03/12/2024Signal is famous for knowing as little about its users as possible. The app isn’t hoarding metadata, tracking you, or showing you ads. President @meredithmeredith.bsky.social sees a shift underway as the monoliths of big tech lose popularity and the old economics of Silicon Valley become brittle.wired.comWith Threats to Encryption Looming, Signal’s Meredith Whittaker Says ‘We’re Not Changing’At WIRED’s The Big Interview event, the president of the Signal Foundation talked about secure communications as critical infrastructure and the need for a new funding paradigm for tech. 9485127
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanTurkopticon @turkopticon.bsky.social · 28/11/2024Turkopticon was honored to be referenced and represented in EU Parliament, we encourage data workers to watch the recording at the link below and see how organizations are pushing for protections through policy. diplab.eu/data-workers...diplab.euData Workers Meet Policymakers: DiPLab’s Journey in Helping Shape EU AI Policy – DiPLab 052
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanAlabama's 42 @cbs42.bsky.social · 28/11/2024Amazons workers across 20 countries, including the United States, are striking against what the organizing labor union calls anti-worker and anti-democratic practices.cbs42.comAmazon workers on strike from Black Friday to Cyber Monday(WFXR) – Amazons workers across 20 countries, including the United States, are striking against what the organizing labor union calls anti-worker and anti-democratic practices. 6542142293
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanTurkopticon @turkopticon.bsky.social · 01/12/2024We represent data workers and the mistreatment they get working on the platforms that make your tech work. We are always happy to speak at conferences and in spaces where people are willing to listen to our battles. The Color of Surveillance was a recent conference we were excited to participate in. 0156
Reposted by Krystal KauffmanArte es Ética @arteesetica.bsky.social · 27/11/2024"A pesar de que trabajamos para estas grandes empresas, somos la mano de obra barata y descartable para ellos": Oskarina Fuentes frente al Parlamento Europeo junto a @milamiceli.bsky.social hablando sobre la extrema precariedad de los trabajadores de datos de la industria de la IA 📢 #dataworkers 0199