[Art-mfastudio] Fwd: [Innovators] Fwd: [MLGroup] FSU SC AI Seminar: 17 Oct, 12:00 p.m. ET, “The Moral Exploitation of Data Workers” (accessible talk)

[Rob Duarte]

*Rob Duarte*
Associate Professor & Graduate Director
Florida State University Department of Art

Oct 12, 2025 8:15:50 PM Paul Marty via Innovators <innovators at lists.fsu.edu>:

See below for a fascinating talk this coming Friday!


> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> *From: *Tommie Juzek via SC-MLGroup <sc-mlgroup at lists.fsu.edu>
> *Subject: **[MLGroup] FSU SC AI Seminar: 17 Oct, 12:00 p.m. ET, “The Moral Exploitation of Data Workers” (accessible talk)*
> *Date: *October 12, 2025 at 7:24:27 PM EDT
> *To: *SC-MLGroup <sc-mlgroup at lists.fsu.edu>, Anthony Nguyen <atn12b at fsu.edu>, "cok22 at pitt.edu" <cok22 at pitt.edu>
> *Reply-To: *Tommie Juzek <tjuzek at outlook.com>
> 
> 
> Dear All,
> 
> You are warmly invited to this week’s *FSU SC Artificial Intelligence Seminar*. /Please share widely, this will be a talk accessible to a broader audience./
> 
> *Talk:* /The Moral Exploitation of Data Workers/
> *Speakers:* *Conny Knieling* (University of Pittsburgh) & *Anthony Nguyen* (FSU)
> *When:* *Friday, 17 October, 12:00 p.m. ET*
> *Where:* *DSL/SC-499*, Florida State University
> *Attend via Zoom:* https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffsu.zoom.us%2Fj%2F9038137210&data=05%7C02%7CArt-mfastudio%40lists.fsu.edu%7Ca792b0a9dcc44c31f60e08de0a71b388%7Ca36450ebdb0642a78d1b026719f701e3%7C0%7C0%7C638959680607608384%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=qnpYEq8lc%2F8vxfYuqOkVinCXyJ9maOrB3lmL9AnfZYs%3D&reserved=0[https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffsu.zoom.us%2Fj%2F9038137210&data=05%7C02%7CArt-mfastudio%40lists.fsu.edu%7Ca792b0a9dcc44c31f60e08de0a71b388%7Ca36450ebdb0642a78d1b026719f701e3%7C0%7C0%7C638959680608104246%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=rv1eVullnySb6YUpGrFO1mL9%2FVOkDFO7URHyVP%2BWoeo%3D&reserved=0]
> *Audience:* An accessible talk suitable for a broad, interdisciplinary audience
> *Seminar website:* https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsc-ai.net%2F&data=05%7C02%7CArt-mfastudio%40lists.fsu.edu%7Ca792b0a9dcc44c31f60e08de0a71b388%7Ca36450ebdb0642a78d1b026719f701e3%7C0%7C0%7C638959680608144914%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=u7OAVwyz1apo19rZEP%2B2R8oedC0o9I1lPlm71tceHXw%3D&reserved=0[https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsc-ai.net%2F&data=05%7C02%7CArt-mfastudio%40lists.fsu.edu%7Ca792b0a9dcc44c31f60e08de0a71b388%7Ca36450ebdb0642a78d1b026719f701e3%7C0%7C0%7C638959680608225243%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=%2F9fjaOViK1pO2%2FYRdRDk6RPn8JSQ4qBuLzWGePAkAgs%3D&reserved=0]
> 
> 
> *Abstract*: Recent reports about “AI sweatshops” have caused much outcry.  Consider data workers hired in Kenya to sanitize ChatGPT: their work is integral to ChatGPT's meeting value alignment goals, yet their labor is obscured, undervalued, and exploited. Many of these workers are also forced to screen disturbing content – consequently suffering lasting psychological harm, while working for little pay and under precarious conditions. We argue for the following thesis: much of today’s data work constitutes a yet-to-be-theorized exploitation (i.e., moral exploitation) that resumes previous colonial oppression. This “moral exploitation” involves the exploitation of individuals /in virtue of/ their capacity for autonomous moral decision-making. This data-driven exploitation constitutes neo-colonialism, an undertheorized variant of colonialism. Under paradigmatic historical instances of (neo-)colonial rule, “what the colonist was [effectively] saying to the colonized subject was: ‘Work yourself to death, but let me get rich!’” (Fanon 1963, 135). However, the global moral exploitation of data workers shows that /some /contemporary neo-colonial relations strike objectionably even more intimately at the very core of human agency: the ability for moral decision-making. In a slogan: These data workers are exploited not /despite/ the fact that they are persons, but—perversely—/because/ they are persons.
> 
> 
> *Mini-bios*:
> *Anthony Nguyen* is a postdoctoral researcher in FSU’s Department of Philosophy. He specialises in political philosophy, philosophy of language, and metaphysics. His AI-related work examines data colonialism and the “moral exploitation” of data annotators working in the Global South.
> 
> *Conny Knieling* is a Ph.D. student in the Philosophy Department at the University of Pittsburgh. She works in Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of AI, and the History and Philosophy of Mathematics. Her dissertation explores opportunities and challenges posed by deep learning models in science.
> 
> Looking forward to seeing you all on Friday, Very best wishes, 
> T
> 
> FSU SC Artificial Intelligence Seminar
> DSL/SC-499 • Fridays at 12:00 p.m. ET
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