Join Dr Saiph Savage, Assistant Professor at Northeastern University in the Khoury College of Computer Sciences, as she discusses how AI can be used to make working conditions better for workers. This event is chaired by Professor Elena Simperl, Director of Research, ODI.
Abstract:
In today's dynamic gig economy, workers on platforms like Upwork, Amazon Mechanical Turk, and Toloka face daunting labor challenges. Despite the potential of collective action to significantly improve these conditions, its implementation is hindered by inadequate systems for identifying and resolving issues.
During my keynote, I will unveil my Innovative A.I. For Worker Collective Action framework, deeply embedded in social theories. This talk will highlight how we can harness Large Language Models (LLMs), coupled with social theories and worker-owned data, to develop technologies that are truly worker-centric. These technologies not only empower workers to shape their own futures but also enhance their working conditions and address existing harms. I will showcase case studies that exemplify the practical application of this framework, illustrating its potential to revolutionize the future of work. The session will culminate in a forward-looking discussion on a research agenda aimed at exploring the societal impacts of A.I. and crafting effective socio-technical solutions that consistently put worker wellbeing at the forefront.
Speakers
Saiph Savage is an Assistant Professor at Northeastern University in the Khoury College of Computer Sciences, where she conducts research at the intersection of Human-Computer Interaction, A.I., and Civic Technology. She is one of the 35 Innovators under 35 by the MIT Technology Review, a Google Anita Borg Scholarship recipient, and a fellow at the Center for Democracy & Technology. Her work has been covered in the BBC, Deutsche Welle, The Economist, and The New York Times, as well as published in top venues such as ACM CHI, CSCW, and The Web Conference, where she has also won honorable mentions and impact awards.
Dr. Savage has secured over $1.52 million in funding from the National Science Foundation, including the prestigious NSF CAREER Award. She has been awarded grants from the National Science Foundation, the United Nations, and various industry actors. She has also formalized new collaborations with federal and local governments, driving them to adopt Human-Centered Design and A.I. to improve citizen experiences and government services.
Dr. Savage's students have obtained fellowships and internships in industry (Facebook Research, Twitch Research, Twitter, Snap, and Microsoft Research) as well as academia (Oxford Internet Institute). She holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and a master's and Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). Dr. Savage has been a tech worker at Microsoft Bing, and Intel Labs.
Professor Elena Simperl, Director of Research, ODI
Elena Simperl is the ODI’s Director of Research and a Professor of Computer Science at King’s College London. She is also a Fellow of the British Computer Society, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a senior member of the Society for the Study of AI and Simulation of Behaviour, and a Hans Fischer Senior Fellow.
Elena’s research is in human-centric AI, exploring socio-technical questions around the management, use, and governance of data in AI applications. According to AMiner, she is in the top 100 most influential scholars in knowledge engineering of the last decade. She also features in the Women in AI 2000 ranking.
In her 15-year career, she has led 14 national and international research projects, contributing to another 26. She leads the ODI’s programme of research on data-centric AI, which studies and designs the socio-technical data infrastructure of AI models and applications. Elena chaired several conferences in artificial intelligence, social computing, and data innovation. She is the president of the Semantic Web Science Association.
Elena is passionate about ensuring that AI technologies and applications allow everyone to take advantage of their opportunities, whether that is by making AI more participatory by design, investing in novel AI literacy interventions, or paying more attention to the stewardship and governance of data in AI.
Event details
This event is held on Zoom, you can access the Zoom link on the registration page, and you will be emailed reminders.
Please ensure that you can access Zoom on the device you’ll be using for the event.
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