Date/Time
Monday
9 Dec 2024
12:15 pm - 1:25 pm

Location
202 South Hall

Event Type
Non-CSTMS Event

Lilly Irani
Associate Professor, UC San Diego

Algorithms of Suspicion: Political Economy and Politics in Platform Fraud Detection

Algorithms and AI impact access to work and other essential resources, especially for low-income people. This talk examines the combination of policies, practices, and algorithms of suspicion that control workers’ access to wages and work on digital platforms. This case study begins with the problem of opaque account suspensions suffered by good faith workers on the platform Amazon Mechanical Turk. Through an investigation of patents, research papers, and industry documentation, I examine assumptions underlying models of good and bad workers. I show how technologists transform the legal category “fraud” into a cultural category that legitimizes unilateral algorithmic firings of workers. I conclude by examining implications for employment discrimination and presenting alternative processes demanded by workers themselves.

This lecture will be held both online & in person. You are welcome to join in South Hall or via Zoom. For more information about this event, please visit the UC Berkeley School of Information website. If you have any questions about this event, please contact Peter Marchetti, Academic Personnel Manager, at pmarchetti@ischool.berkeley.edu.