Big Words: Fake Automation #15
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Fake Automation:
Fake automation, or in other words “fauxtomation”, expresses how work accomplished through human effort is falsely perceived as automated. Merging the words "fake" with "automation," it describes well the experience and human labor involved in automation, including the training of AI data models. The term was coined in 2018 by writer and artist Astra Taylor.
The Human Labour of Automated Work
According to Maureen Ebben, researcher at the University of Southern Maine, the human side of human and robots labour is frequently obscured:
‘The human labor that goes on, often behind the scenes, to produce products and services is hidden because the technology is perceived to automate work. Such understandings and depictions of work normalizes the concealment of human labor. Automation emphasizes the labor of machines and masks the labor of humans.’ - Maureen Ebben
Astra Taylor reveals the consequences of hidden human labor in her 2018 essay
The Automation Charade:
‘In its more harmless form, fauxtomation is merely a marketing ploy, a way to make pointless products seem cutting-edge.[…] The gap between advertising copy and reality can be risible. But fauxtomation also has a more nefarious purpose. It reinforces the perception that work has no value if it is unpaid and acclimates us to the idea that one day we won’t be needed.’- Astra Taylor
In the context of AI, the outsourced labor of moderators training AI models has been criticized for its extractive character and potential to be psychologically traumatizing due to exposure to harmful content. However, even with predictions from recent studies suggesting an exhaustion of high-quality language data by 2026, there will likely still be a growing need for human labor in this sector.
Sources: Maureen Ebben, Astra Taylor, The Guardian, The Conversation.
Contributor: Beata Wilczek.