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Oxford Social Policy and Intervention @dspi-oxford.bsky.social · 22h

📢Book your free spot at our first seminar of term!
Join Prof Mark Graham @oii.ox.ac.uk for: “The hidden human labour powering AI: Introducing the Fairwork Action Research Project”
🗓16 October 4pm
📍In-person & online
Register now: talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/760...
@geoplace.bsky.social

'The hidden human labour powering AI: Introducing the Fairwork Action Research Project'
Professor Mark Graham has short curly dark hair. He is wearing a black shirt.

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Mark Graham @geoplace.bsky.social · 16d

Organizers:
Mark Graham (Oxford Internet Institute, Univ. of Oxford)
Uma Rani (International Labour Organization)

We welcome interdisciplinary work from all career stages.
#AAG2026 #AI #TechJustice #GlobalProductionNetworks #Labor #ClimateJustice #DigitalColonialism

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Mark Graham @geoplace.bsky.social · 16d

Submission details:
• Abstract (≤250 words)
• Short bio (≤100 words)
• Deadline: Oct 14
• Send to [email protected] and [email protected]
Subject line: AAG 2026 AI Production Networks Session

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Mark Graham @geoplace.bsky.social · 16d

Guiding questions include:
• Where are the critical nodes and chokepoints?
• How can transparency reveal hidden flows of minerals, capital, data, labor?
• Which policy levers reshape incentives?
• Where do labor & community struggles gain traction?
• How can design choices reduce harm?

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Mark Graham @geoplace.bsky.social · 16d

This session explores how value and profit concentrate in the Global North while environmental harms, precarious labor, and extractive practices fall elsewhere.

We want papers that map these geographies of harm and identify leverage points for change.

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Mark Graham @geoplace.bsky.social · 16d

Call for Papers: Locating Power & Resistance in Global AI Production Networks

AAG 2026 Annual Meeting

AI is not just “in the cloud.” It relies on global supply chains, with power concentrated in a few countries and corporations.

fair.work/en/fw/blog/c...

#AAG2026

Call for Papers: Locating Power and Resistance Within Global AI Production Networks

American Association of Geographers (AAG) 2026 Annual Meeting

fair.work

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Mark Graham @geoplace.bsky.social · Sep 8

The cube is not just a puzzle. It is a lens that reveals both what AI shows and what it conceals.

This piece was made with brilliant designers John Philip Sage and Carlos Romo-Melgar.

We’ll be exhibiting it (and giving many away) at the ESRC Festival of Social Sciences in Oxford on 29 Oct.

Mark Graham @geoplace.bsky.social · Sep 8

Across every side, glass-like insect forms creep. Not natural but synthetic hybrids, they act as metaphors for the hidden systems that power AI. Like insects in an ecosystem, they expose dependencies we rarely notice.

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Mark Graham @geoplace.bsky.social · Sep 8

AI Products: You use it. It uses you.
Invisible Labour: Invisible labour, indispensable skill.
Data Assets: Extraction fuels machine learning.
Footprint: Digital demand, ecological debt.
Capital and Ownership: Cash walls. Closed doors.
Rules and Voids: Governance gaps widen risks.

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Mark Graham @geoplace.bsky.social · Sep 8

AI often looks smooth and solved, like a Rubik’s cube. But turn it in your hands and each side reveals something hidden.

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Oxford Internet Institute @oii.ox.ac.uk · Aug 14

"[We need to] understand that when we use these products and services, we're not just interacting with a machine. We're interacting with many, many real people of flesh and blood, who often work under terrible conditions." - Prof. Mark Graham @geoplace.bsky.social

globalnyt.dk/professor-ka...

Professor kalder dem for digitale sweatshops: Techgiganternes usynlige arbejdskraft holder internettet sikkert | Globalnyt

Mark Graham husker dengang for godt 16 år siden, da fiberkabler blev gravet ned på tværs af Østafrika og forbandt regionen med resten af verden på en helt n ...

globalnyt.dk

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Mark Graham @geoplace.bsky.social · Jul 22

The new @oecd-ocde.bsky.social Fairwork AI Ratings report shows who powers AI and how Humans in the Loop earned a 6/10 score after 14 policy changes.

@towardsfairwork.bsky.social now offers certification so buyers can demand higher standards across AI supply chains.

wp.oecd.ai/app/uploads/...

wp.oecd.ai

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Mark Graham @geoplace.bsky.social · Jul 14

This paper is a call to action for the academic community to lead by example, fostering a more just and responsible AI ecosystem. I invite you to read the full paper and join the conversation.

Find it here: www.frontiersin.org/journals/com...

Frontiers | Reflection AI: feeding the machine - the hidden labour behind AI tools and ethical implications for higher education

As university instructors integrate AI tools, such as large language models (LLMs) into their pedagogy, they must grapple with the ethical and practical impl...

www.frontiersin.org

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Mark Graham @geoplace.bsky.social · Jul 14

Our research calls upon higher education instructors and students to become active advocates for improved working conditions across the entire AI supply chain. This is a collective responsibility.

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Mark Graham @geoplace.bsky.social · Jul 14

We strongly advocate for the adoption of the Fairwork scoring system as a robust framework to guide ethical engagement with AI technologies within academic institutions.

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Mark Graham @geoplace.bsky.social · Jul 14

The seamless integration of AI in higher education relies heavily on a significant, yet largely invisible, workforce. We emphasise the importance of recognising and valuing their contributions.

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Mark Graham @geoplace.bsky.social · Jul 14

AI is not autonomous. It depends on invisible labour: data annotators, content moderators, voice workers, data centre techs. Often underpaid, emotionally strained, and hidden from view.

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Mark Graham @geoplace.bsky.social · Jul 14

New article out in Frontiers in Communication by me, @jonasvalente.bsky.social & @oguzalyanak.bsky.social:
"Reflection AI: Feeding the Machine – The Hidden Labour Behind AI Tools and Ethical Implications for Higher Education"
It confronts the human cost behind the AI systems now flooding education.

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Oxford Internet Institute @oii.ox.ac.uk · Jul 1

Interesting piece by @economist.com discussing how outsourcing could revolutionize Africa’s economy, with expert commentary from @geoplace.bsky.social @towardsfairwork.bsky.social @oii.ox.ac.uk on implications for Africa's workers. More here: www.economist.com/middle-east-... #outsourcing #Africa

Call centres could be a gold mine for Africa

Forget factories. There is a better answer to the continent’s jobs crisis

www.economist.com

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Mark Graham @geoplace.bsky.social · Jun 30

Check out our new paper in the Industrial Law Journal: Fair Work for Platform Workers: Lessons from the EU Directive and Beyond

Oxford Internet Institute @oii.ox.ac.uk · Jun 30

New paper alert! Latest work from @towardsfairwork.bsky.social researchers analyses the implications of the Platform Work Directive and suggests ways forward for the proposed ILO Convention. Read their paper: bit.ly/4nGs5LY 1/2

Fair Work for Platform Workers: Lessons from the EU Directive and Beyond

The adoption of an EU Directive on Platform Work in March 2024 signals a crucial acknowledgement of the need for legal regulation of a burgeoning form of w

bit.ly

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Oxford Internet Institute @oii.ox.ac.uk · Jun 30

Lead author: Sandra Fredman, Co-authors: @Darcy Du Toit, Alessio Bertolini, @jonasvalente.bsky.social and @geoplace.bsky.social. Find out more about the Fair Digital Economies research project at the @oii.ox.ac.uk: bit.ly/3TihU28 .

OII | Fair Digital Economies

Investigating and addressing the systemic inequities embedded in digitally mediated labour and economic systems.

bit.ly

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Oxford Internet Institute @oii.ox.ac.uk · Jun 30

New paper alert! Latest work from @towardsfairwork.bsky.social researchers analyses the implications of the Platform Work Directive and suggests ways forward for the proposed ILO Convention. Read their paper: bit.ly/4nGs5LY 1/2

Fair Work for Platform Workers: Lessons from the EU Directive and Beyond

The adoption of an EU Directive on Platform Work in March 2024 signals a crucial acknowledgement of the need for legal regulation of a burgeoning form of w

bit.ly

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Mark Graham @geoplace.bsky.social · Jun 23

I appeared on ARD's programme “Titel Thesen Temperamente,” talking about the data workers behind AI.

Catch the segment here 👉 www.ardmediathek.de/video/Y3JpZD...

ttt – titel, thesen, temperamente: Wie Datenarbeiter für KI ausgebeutet werden - hier anschauen

Hinter KI liegt ein System globaler Ungleichheit. Das zeigt das neue Buch 'Feeding the Machine' von Mark Graham et al. Auch Klickarbeiter:innen, die 'ttt' während einer investigativen Recherche traf, ...

www.ardmediathek.de

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Virginia Doellgast @vdoellgast.bsky.social · Jun 6

AI Value Chains: from Exploitation to Organizing -- with @geoplace.bsky.social, ‪@martinkrz.bsky.social, and Uma Rani Amara - Featured panel @sasemeeting.bsky.social

08:30-10:00 Friday, 11 July, 2025 - Room 517C

virtual.oxfordabstracts.com/event/37937/...

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Mark Graham @geoplace.bsky.social · Jun 4

The German version of our book is now out, and is getting some pretty good reviews in the German press. Here's a few of them:

www.faz.net/aktuell/feui...

www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/ki-feeding-t...

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Alex Wood @alexjwoodsociology.bsky.social · Jun 3

Our article "Beyond the ‘Gig Economy’: Towards Variable Experiences of Job Quality in Platform Work" has been published by 'Work, Employment and Society'. With Nick Martindale and @brendanburchell.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1177/0950...

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Fairwork @towardsfairwork.bsky.social · May 22

As AI grows more powerful, it’s easy to overlook the people behind the data.
At Fairwork, we’re working to change that — with a new way to help companies strengthen labour standards across AI supply chains.

Make sure to follow us for the launch this June.
#Fairwork #AISupplyChain

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Oxford Internet Institute @oii.ox.ac.uk · May 21

Great piece from HR Review highlighting a new report from @towardsfairwork.bsky.social exposing corporate failure to provide adequate worker protections in Cloudwork economy. Article includes comment from @geoplace.bsky.social and @jonasvalente.bsky.social @oii.ox.ac.uk. Story here: bit.ly/45hbFTh

Online gig economy exposes global labour protection failures, Oxford study finds

Most online gig economy platforms are failing to meet even minimum labour standards around pay, working conditions and contracts.

hrreview.co.uk

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Mark Graham @geoplace.bsky.social · May 16

Proud of my @towardsfairwork.bsky.social team, who were finalists at the University of Oxford Vice-Chancellor’s Awards yesterday

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Sam Kinsley @samkinsley.uk · May 13

Fixed term RA role with @geoplace.bsky.social - fair.work/en/fw/jobs/

Jobs

Fairwork is hiring a Research Assistant

fair.work

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