iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Andreu Belsunces Gonçalves @imaginaries.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

The fourth article in our @hypestudies.bsky.social series at at @techpolicypress.bsky.social is out. Brilliant work by @marche.bsky.social and Kathy Cleary exposing how AI hype obfuscates the extractive practices behind training and labelling LLMs.

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Marché Arends @marche.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

New article out in @techpolicypress.bsky.social: 'How AI Hype Masks the Exploitation of African Workers' Read it here: tinyurl.com/4s2u68px AI hype isn’t marketing, it’s a cover story disguising exploitation as "progress" and reframing colonial extraction as "innovation". Let’s break it down 🧵

tinyurl.com

How AI Hype Masks the Exploitation of African Workers

AI is a consolidation of labor hierarchies, a plunder of African skills, and a commodification of African knowledge, write Marché Arends and Kathryn Cleary.

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Marché Arends @marche.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

Hi, I’m Marché - a freelance investigative journalist from South Africa. I’m injured, largely immobile, and fighting for a spinal surgery my medical aid refuses to pay for.

Marché is lying in bed, underneath a bed tray that is propping up a laptop up so she can see the screen and continue to work.

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Marché Arends @marche.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

I feel like everyone is under some kind of bullshit spell that makes them believe in (and defend) AGI. AGI ISN'T REAL AND CHASING IT IS CAUSING IMMEASURABLE HARM. Please, I beg of you, stop waiting for a unicorn. And also, for those who haven't heard: Santa isn't real either. 🙄 Ugh, I'm tired 🤦‍♀️

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Global Investigative Journalism Network @gijn.org · 05/09/2025

This week’s Top 10 Data Journalism column highlights, curated by Hanna Duggal for GIJN 🧵👇 Full story:

twp.ai

gijn.org

Where Plane Crash Survivors Sit, African Labor Fueling AI Hype, DOGE Guts US Health Agency, Syria’s Most Feared Prison

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Marché Arends @marche.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

Thanks @gijn.org and Hannah Duggal for including our story in this week's Top 10 Data Journalism column!

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Pulitzer Center @pulitzercenter.org · 02/09/2025

Thousands of workers promised digital jobs are being used as collateral in Big Tech’s race to build “super-intelligent AI.” AI Fellows @marche.bsky.social and Kathryn Cleary reveal how workers are lured into jobs with no pay and no work. Story for Africa Uncensored. 👉 bit.ly/4ncZ7lQ

pulitzercenter.org

Fuelling the AGI Hype: The Recruitment Playbook To Land Big Tech Contracts

On the surface, the South African job market looks busy; scrolling through jobs on LinkedIn reveals hundreds, sometimes thousands, of job postings for “AI tutors” or “AI trainers” from micro-tasking.....

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I Scare You Like Sound Dog @chadstanton.blacksky.app · 27/08/2025

“Our investigation reveals that despite thousands of job postings, these companies offer no promise of work, but instead leverage digital workers as collateral to win Big Tech contracts.“

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Marché Arends @marche.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

Yesterday, our investigation dropped in Africa Uncensored about how human labour from the Global South is being leveraged by Big Tech as collateral in a gambling game of epic proportions. How? Through the mass recruitment of 'AI Trainers' or 'AI Tutors'. 🧵 africauncensored.online/blog/2025/08...

africauncensored.online

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Marché Arends @marche.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Any other neurodivergent peeps with strong pattern recognition and a pretty good general knowledge of world history freaking out right now?

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The Continent @thecontinent.org · 21/02/2025

All Protocol Observed Welcome to Issue 191 of The Continent The Sudanese army is closing in on the Republican Palace in Khartoum – but the war is far from over. Get your copy, for free, here: bit.ly/TC191

Issue 191 of The Continent (22 February 2025) shows a Sudanese army soldier scanning the frontline with binoculars in Khartoum North, through a broken window, on November 3, 2024. Beneath the photo are the words: "Sudan's distant peace" and the photo credit: Amaury Falt-Brown / AFP

#Sudan #Africa #AfricanJournalism #TheContinent

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Ebony Elizabeth Thomas @ebonyteach.blacksky.app · 18/02/2025

Definitely! See this 🧵 for links. Experts @timnitgebru.bsky.social & @xriskology.bsky.social have talked about TESCREAL for years. Here's a quick explainer from Dr. Torres: www.truthdig.com/articles/the... Plus a YouTube of TESCREAL ideas in tech billionaires' own words: youtu.be/5RpPTRcz1no?...

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Marché Arends @marche.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Trump is that creepy dude in the club who thinks eye contact is an invitation for harassment. He and my country (South Africa) are currently in a staring contest. So now feels like an appropriate time to read Project 2025 because that shit affects us all. A living 🧵 #Project2025CribNotes

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Marché Arends @marche.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

I think we need to be talking about TESCREAL more... Spoiler: Eugenics is back. 🧵

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Marché Arends @marche.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Anyone else think it's weird that Trump can suddenly string a sentence together (low bar) and no one is talking about 'word salad' anymore? Or is it just me?

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Lydia Namubiru @namlyd.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Our contributors did it scared. They stayed inside Goma, doing journalism, as the city fell to M23.

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Lindley @lindley.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

My stock image website is guaranteed AI-free, size inclusize, pays a living wage to creators and focuses on marginalized bodies: www.bodyliberationstock.com

A fat feminine body in silhouette with arms lifted against a mountain, lake and sunset sky. Text on top reads, Body Liberation Stock from Body Liberation Photos.

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Marché Arends @marche.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

A good headline hits different 💯

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Marché Arends @marche.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

Community is an act of resistance. Let's build, shall we?

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Marché Arends @marche.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

I'm building a starter pack of journalists based in South Africa covering the Majority World. Please tag anyone you think should be on this list! go.bsky.app/2qrmSqu

go.bsky.app

South Africa Journalists

Join the conversation

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Angi Yoder-Maina, Phd 🇰🇪 @angiyo.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

🧵 1/13 After decades of living and working in conflict zones, I need to share something crucial about what happens when governance systems collapse. This isn't abstract - it's a reality I've lived firsthand. Today is what they mean by to "hasten the collapse" (accelerationism 101).

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Karen Hao @karenhao.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

As someone who has reported on AI for 7 years and covered China tech as well, I think the biggest lesson to be drawn from DeepSeek is the huge cracks it illustrates with the current dominant paradigm of AI development. A long thread. 1/

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The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 28/01/2025

Roger Hallam is serving a five-year sentence for advocating direct action during a videoconference. It hasn’t stopped him. newrepublic.com/article/1904...

newrepublic.com

This Climate Activist Has a Plan to Defeat Trumpism. He’s in Prison.

Roger Hallam is serving a five-year sentence for advocating direct action during a videoconference. It hasn’t stopped him.

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The Continent @thecontinent.org · 04/12/2024

If a TikTok user from the US or Europe wants any of their data that the platform collects, they can request it from the company. The same is not true for African TikTok or YouTube users, who aren’t even given the option to apply, @marche.bsky.social reports.

continent.substack.com

Give us our data back, says AU

Tech companies are hoarding African data. The African Union wants them to hand it over.

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Ryan Musser @ryanmusser.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

Starter Pack for Africa-based journalists, including foreign correspondents and local journalists from their country of origin go.bsky.app/PYNaWY7

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Hank Green @hankgreen.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

The fact that Deepseek R1 was released three days /before/ Stargate means these guys stood in front of Trump and said they needed half a trillion dollars while they knew R1 was open source and trained for $5M. Beautiful.

Trump announces 500B in AI funding. Five days ago.

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