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  1. Fear and Loathing of AI (Part IV): Automation Doesn’t Kill Jobs — It Cheapens People

    By Cliff Potts, CSO, and Editor-in-Chief of WPS News

    The popular story about automation is that it destroys jobs.

    That story is comforting, because it suggests a clean line: a job exists, a machine replaces it, the job disappears. Tragic, but understandable.

    What actually happens is worse.

    Automation rarely eliminates work outright.
    It cheapens the people who do it.

    The quiet downgrade

    Most jobs don’t vanish overnight. They are degraded.

    Pay drops.
    Expectations rise.
    Staffing thins.
    Monitoring increases.

    Workers are told they should be grateful, because “AI makes you more productive now.”

    Productivity, however, is not shared.
    It is captured.

    The job remains, but dignity erodes.

    From skilled labor to managed output

    Before automation, skill carried bargaining power.
    After automation, skill becomes assumed.

    AI-assisted work quickly shifts from:

    • expertise → throughput
    • judgment → compliance
    • craft → metrics

    Once the machine is involved, human contribution is reframed as a cost center rather than a value source.

    The worker doesn’t disappear.
    The status of the worker does.

    The speed-up without the pay

    Historically, when tools made work faster, workers fought for:

    • shorter hours,
    • higher wages,
    • better conditions.

    AI flips that script.

    Now speed gains are treated as justification for:

    • heavier workloads,
    • constant availability,
    • reduced compensation per unit of work.

    You are not paid more for producing more.
    You are expected to produce more for the same or less.

    This is not innovation failure.
    It is policy choice.

    Surveillance masquerading as assistance

    AI is often introduced as a “helper.”
    In practice, it becomes a manager.

    It tracks:

    • keystrokes,
    • output rates,
    • response times,
    • behavioral patterns.

    What begins as assistance quietly becomes supervision.

    Automation does not just change what you do.
    It changes how closely you are watched while doing it.

    The moral inversion

    When work becomes cheaper, people are treated as more replaceable.

    That inversion is always justified with the same language:

    • efficiency,
    • competitiveness,
    • inevitability.

    But none of those are natural laws.
    They are decisions made by those who benefit.

    Automation does not have ethics.
    Institutions deploying it do.

    The real danger

    The greatest risk of AI-driven automation is not mass unemployment.

    It is a world where:

    • work still consumes most of your life,
    • pay no longer reflects effort,
    • and dignity is treated as a luxury benefit.

    A world where jobs exist, but people inside them are hollowed out.

    A line worth drawing

    AI can reduce drudgery.
    It can assist judgment.
    It can remove unnecessary friction.

    But if productivity gains are not paired with:

    • stronger labor protections,
    • shared gains,
    • and limits on surveillance,

    automation becomes exploitation with better branding.

    Automation doesn’t kill jobs.

    It kills leverage.

    And without leverage, workers don’t disappear.

    They endure.

    For more social commentary, please see Occupy 2.5 at https://Occupy25.com

    #ArtificialIntelligence #automation #economicInequality #futureOfWork #Labor #Occupy25 #platformCapitalism #productivity #technologyCritique #workerRights #workplaceSurveillance #WPSNews
  2. Fear and Loathing of AI (Part IV): Automation Doesn’t Kill Jobs — It Cheapens People

    By Cliff Potts, CSO, and Editor-in-Chief of WPS News

    The popular story about automation is that it destroys jobs.

    That story is comforting, because it suggests a clean line: a job exists, a machine replaces it, the job disappears. Tragic, but understandable.

    What actually happens is worse.

    Automation rarely eliminates work outright.
    It cheapens the people who do it.

    The quiet downgrade

    Most jobs don’t vanish overnight. They are degraded.

    Pay drops.
    Expectations rise.
    Staffing thins.
    Monitoring increases.

    Workers are told they should be grateful, because “AI makes you more productive now.”

    Productivity, however, is not shared.
    It is captured.

    The job remains, but dignity erodes.

    From skilled labor to managed output

    Before automation, skill carried bargaining power.
    After automation, skill becomes assumed.

    AI-assisted work quickly shifts from:

    • expertise → throughput
    • judgment → compliance
    • craft → metrics

    Once the machine is involved, human contribution is reframed as a cost center rather than a value source.

    The worker doesn’t disappear.
    The status of the worker does.

    The speed-up without the pay

    Historically, when tools made work faster, workers fought for:

    • shorter hours,
    • higher wages,
    • better conditions.

    AI flips that script.

    Now speed gains are treated as justification for:

    • heavier workloads,
    • constant availability,
    • reduced compensation per unit of work.

    You are not paid more for producing more.
    You are expected to produce more for the same or less.

    This is not innovation failure.
    It is policy choice.

    Surveillance masquerading as assistance

    AI is often introduced as a “helper.”
    In practice, it becomes a manager.

    It tracks:

    • keystrokes,
    • output rates,
    • response times,
    • behavioral patterns.

    What begins as assistance quietly becomes supervision.

    Automation does not just change what you do.
    It changes how closely you are watched while doing it.

    The moral inversion

    When work becomes cheaper, people are treated as more replaceable.

    That inversion is always justified with the same language:

    • efficiency,
    • competitiveness,
    • inevitability.

    But none of those are natural laws.
    They are decisions made by those who benefit.

    Automation does not have ethics.
    Institutions deploying it do.

    The real danger

    The greatest risk of AI-driven automation is not mass unemployment.

    It is a world where:

    • work still consumes most of your life,
    • pay no longer reflects effort,
    • and dignity is treated as a luxury benefit.

    A world where jobs exist, but people inside them are hollowed out.

    A line worth drawing

    AI can reduce drudgery.
    It can assist judgment.
    It can remove unnecessary friction.

    But if productivity gains are not paired with:

    • stronger labor protections,
    • shared gains,
    • and limits on surveillance,

    automation becomes exploitation with better branding.

    Automation doesn’t kill jobs.

    It kills leverage.

    And without leverage, workers don’t disappear.

    They endure.

    For more social commentary, please see Occupy 2.5 at https://Occupy25.com

    #ArtificialIntelligence #automation #economicInequality #futureOfWork #Labor #Occupy25 #platformCapitalism #productivity #technologyCritique #workerRights #workplaceSurveillance #WPSNews
  3. Fear and Loathing of AI (Part IV): Automation Doesn’t Kill Jobs — It Cheapens People

    By Cliff Potts, CSO, and Editor-in-Chief of WPS News

    The popular story about automation is that it destroys jobs.

    That story is comforting, because it suggests a clean line: a job exists, a machine replaces it, the job disappears. Tragic, but understandable.

    What actually happens is worse.

    Automation rarely eliminates work outright.
    It cheapens the people who do it.

    The quiet downgrade

    Most jobs don’t vanish overnight. They are degraded.

    Pay drops.
    Expectations rise.
    Staffing thins.
    Monitoring increases.

    Workers are told they should be grateful, because “AI makes you more productive now.”

    Productivity, however, is not shared.
    It is captured.

    The job remains, but dignity erodes.

    From skilled labor to managed output

    Before automation, skill carried bargaining power.
    After automation, skill becomes assumed.

    AI-assisted work quickly shifts from:

    • expertise → throughput
    • judgment → compliance
    • craft → metrics

    Once the machine is involved, human contribution is reframed as a cost center rather than a value source.

    The worker doesn’t disappear.
    The status of the worker does.

    The speed-up without the pay

    Historically, when tools made work faster, workers fought for:

    • shorter hours,
    • higher wages,
    • better conditions.

    AI flips that script.

    Now speed gains are treated as justification for:

    • heavier workloads,
    • constant availability,
    • reduced compensation per unit of work.

    You are not paid more for producing more.
    You are expected to produce more for the same or less.

    This is not innovation failure.
    It is policy choice.

    Surveillance masquerading as assistance

    AI is often introduced as a “helper.”
    In practice, it becomes a manager.

    It tracks:

    • keystrokes,
    • output rates,
    • response times,
    • behavioral patterns.

    What begins as assistance quietly becomes supervision.

    Automation does not just change what you do.
    It changes how closely you are watched while doing it.

    The moral inversion

    When work becomes cheaper, people are treated as more replaceable.

    That inversion is always justified with the same language:

    • efficiency,
    • competitiveness,
    • inevitability.

    But none of those are natural laws.
    They are decisions made by those who benefit.

    Automation does not have ethics.
    Institutions deploying it do.

    The real danger

    The greatest risk of AI-driven automation is not mass unemployment.

    It is a world where:

    • work still consumes most of your life,
    • pay no longer reflects effort,
    • and dignity is treated as a luxury benefit.

    A world where jobs exist, but people inside them are hollowed out.

    A line worth drawing

    AI can reduce drudgery.
    It can assist judgment.
    It can remove unnecessary friction.

    But if productivity gains are not paired with:

    • stronger labor protections,
    • shared gains,
    • and limits on surveillance,

    automation becomes exploitation with better branding.

    Automation doesn’t kill jobs.

    It kills leverage.

    And without leverage, workers don’t disappear.

    They endure.

    For more social commentary, please see Occupy 2.5 at https://Occupy25.com

    #ArtificialIntelligence #automation #economicInequality #futureOfWork #Labor #Occupy25 #platformCapitalism #productivity #technologyCritique #workerRights #workplaceSurveillance #WPSNews
  4. Fear and Loathing of AI (Part IV): Automation Doesn’t Kill Jobs — It Cheapens People

    By Cliff Potts, CSO, and Editor-in-Chief of WPS News

    The popular story about automation is that it destroys jobs.

    That story is comforting, because it suggests a clean line: a job exists, a machine replaces it, the job disappears. Tragic, but understandable.

    What actually happens is worse.

    Automation rarely eliminates work outright.
    It cheapens the people who do it.

    The quiet downgrade

    Most jobs don’t vanish overnight. They are degraded.

    Pay drops.
    Expectations rise.
    Staffing thins.
    Monitoring increases.

    Workers are told they should be grateful, because “AI makes you more productive now.”

    Productivity, however, is not shared.
    It is captured.

    The job remains, but dignity erodes.

    From skilled labor to managed output

    Before automation, skill carried bargaining power.
    After automation, skill becomes assumed.

    AI-assisted work quickly shifts from:

    • expertise → throughput
    • judgment → compliance
    • craft → metrics

    Once the machine is involved, human contribution is reframed as a cost center rather than a value source.

    The worker doesn’t disappear.
    The status of the worker does.

    The speed-up without the pay

    Historically, when tools made work faster, workers fought for:

    • shorter hours,
    • higher wages,
    • better conditions.

    AI flips that script.

    Now speed gains are treated as justification for:

    • heavier workloads,
    • constant availability,
    • reduced compensation per unit of work.

    You are not paid more for producing more.
    You are expected to produce more for the same or less.

    This is not innovation failure.
    It is policy choice.

    Surveillance masquerading as assistance

    AI is often introduced as a “helper.”
    In practice, it becomes a manager.

    It tracks:

    • keystrokes,
    • output rates,
    • response times,
    • behavioral patterns.

    What begins as assistance quietly becomes supervision.

    Automation does not just change what you do.
    It changes how closely you are watched while doing it.

    The moral inversion

    When work becomes cheaper, people are treated as more replaceable.

    That inversion is always justified with the same language:

    • efficiency,
    • competitiveness,
    • inevitability.

    But none of those are natural laws.
    They are decisions made by those who benefit.

    Automation does not have ethics.
    Institutions deploying it do.

    The real danger

    The greatest risk of AI-driven automation is not mass unemployment.

    It is a world where:

    • work still consumes most of your life,
    • pay no longer reflects effort,
    • and dignity is treated as a luxury benefit.

    A world where jobs exist, but people inside them are hollowed out.

    A line worth drawing

    AI can reduce drudgery.
    It can assist judgment.
    It can remove unnecessary friction.

    But if productivity gains are not paired with:

    • stronger labor protections,
    • shared gains,
    • and limits on surveillance,

    automation becomes exploitation with better branding.

    Automation doesn’t kill jobs.

    It kills leverage.

    And without leverage, workers don’t disappear.

    They endure.

    For more social commentary, please see Occupy 2.5 at https://Occupy25.com

    #ArtificialIntelligence #automation #economicInequality #futureOfWork #Labor #Occupy25 #platformCapitalism #productivity #technologyCritique #workerRights #workplaceSurveillance #WPSNews
  5. Meta is installing tracking software on US employees' computers to capture mouse movements, keystrokes, and screen activity. This data trains AI agents designed to "primarily do the work" while humans "direct and review." The same 8,000 workers providing training data face layoffs starting May 20. The system runs only in the US - EU privacy laws would block it. A notable shift from AI-as-copilot to workers-as-trainers. #AI #WorkplaceSurveillance #TechLayoffs

    implicator.ai/meta-lays-off-8-

  6. Meta is installing tracking software on US employees' computers to capture mouse movements, keystrokes, and screen activity. This data trains AI agents designed to "primarily do the work" while humans "direct and review." The same 8,000 workers providing training data face layoffs starting May 20. The system runs only in the US - EU privacy laws would block it. A notable shift from AI-as-copilot to workers-as-trainers. #AI #WorkplaceSurveillance #TechLayoffs

    implicator.ai/meta-lays-off-8-

  7. Meta is installing tracking software on US employees' computers to capture mouse movements, keystrokes, and screen activity. This data trains AI agents designed to "primarily do the work" while humans "direct and review." The same 8,000 workers providing training data face layoffs starting May 20. The system runs only in the US - EU privacy laws would block it. A notable shift from AI-as-copilot to workers-as-trainers. #AI #WorkplaceSurveillance #TechLayoffs

    implicator.ai/meta-lays-off-8-

  8. Meta is installing tracking software on US employees' computers to capture mouse movements, keystrokes, and screen activity. This data trains AI agents designed to "primarily do the work" while humans "direct and review." The same 8,000 workers providing training data face layoffs starting May 20. The system runs only in the US - EU privacy laws would block it. A notable shift from AI-as-copilot to workers-as-trainers. #AI #WorkplaceSurveillance #TechLayoffs

    implicator.ai/meta-lays-off-8-

  9. This article in the series “What Everybody Knows About You” by Andrew Oram dives into how employers can track employees’ activity, location, and behavior through workplace and collection.

    Read it here: lpi.org/iqa9

    [Disclaimer: This post includes an image created using AI.]

  10. This article in the series “What Everybody Knows About You” by Andrew Oram dives into how employers can track employees’ activity, location, and behavior through workplace #surveillance and #data collection.

    Read it here: lpi.org/iqa9

    [Disclaimer: This post includes an image created using AI.]

    #dataprivacy #employeemonitoring #workplacesurveillance #digitalrights #datacollection #whateverybodyknowsaboutyou #surveillance

  11. This article in the series “What Everybody Knows About You” by Andrew Oram dives into how employers can track employees’ activity, location, and behavior through workplace #surveillance and #data collection.

    Read it here: lpi.org/iqa9

    [Disclaimer: This post includes an image created using AI.]

    #dataprivacy #employeemonitoring #workplacesurveillance #digitalrights #datacollection #whateverybodyknowsaboutyou #surveillance

  12. This article in the series “What Everybody Knows About You” by Andrew Oram dives into how employers can track employees’ activity, location, and behavior through workplace #surveillance and #data collection.

    Read it here: lpi.org/iqa9

    [Disclaimer: This post includes an image created using AI.]

    #dataprivacy #employeemonitoring #workplacesurveillance #digitalrights #datacollection #whateverybodyknowsaboutyou #surveillance

  13. The AI Auditor: "Junior" Sifts Through Work, Sparks Unease

    AI 'Junior' from Kuse AI monitors Slack and emails. Find out how this affects sales teams and if it's a new form of workplace surveillance.

    #AIinWorkplace, #JuniorAI, #WorkplaceSurveillance, #KuseAI, #FutureofWork

    newsletter.tf/ai-junior-monito

  14. The AI Auditor: "Junior" Sifts Through Work, Sparks Unease

    AI 'Junior' from Kuse AI monitors Slack and emails. Find out how this affects sales teams and if it's a new form of workplace surveillance.

    #AIinWorkplace, #JuniorAI, #WorkplaceSurveillance, #KuseAI, #FutureofWork

    newsletter.tf/ai-junior-monito

  15. Ética y vigilancia algorítmica: El auge de los sistemas de evaluación de desempeño basados en IA proactiva durante el ciclo 2026. 🧠👾 🔗 glitchmental.com/p/la-ia-ya-es #AIethics #WorkplaceSurveillance #GlitchMentalMX

  16. Driven Down: How Amazon Steals Wages, Hides Labor, Intensifies Work, and Evades Responsibility Through Workplace Tech

    peertube.dair-institute.org/w/

  17. Driven Down: How Amazon Steals Wages, Hides Labor, Intensifies Work, and Evades Responsibility Through Workplace Tech

    peertube.dair-institute.org/w/

  18. Driven Down: How Amazon Steals Wages, Hides Labor, Intensifies Work, and Evades Responsibility Through Workplace Tech

    peertube.dair-institute.org/w/

  19. "You mention the manager wants to see if the employee is really working, I mean, is the manager really working if they're just looking at these screenshots [of employees' desktops] all day?"

    #JonathanGood, 2025

    nz-tech-podcast.captivate.fm/e

    #podcasts #GorillaTechnology #NZTech #BossWare #WorkplaceSurveillance

  20. "You mention the manager wants to see if the employee is really working, I mean, is the manager really working if they're just looking at these screenshots [of employees' desktops] all day?"

    #JonathanGood, 2025

    nz-tech-podcast.captivate.fm/e

    #podcasts #GorillaTechnology #NZTech #BossWare #WorkplaceSurveillance

  21. "You mention the manager wants to see if the employee is really working, I mean, is the manager really working if they're just looking at these screenshots [of employees' desktops] all day?"

    #JonathanGood, 2025

    nz-tech-podcast.captivate.fm/e

    #podcasts #GorillaTechnology #NZTech #BossWare #WorkplaceSurveillance

  22. Today: Former FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya’s testimony on AI and labor issues, and connections to public policy and worker rights.

    House Judiciary Committee hearing on 'Artifcial Intelligence: Examining Trends in Innovation and Competition", April 2, 2025.

    #AIandWork #ArtificialIntelligence #WorkplaceSurveillance #AutomatedFiring #DigitalRights #FutureOfWork #AIinTheWorkplace #LaborRights #TechAccountability #EthicalAI #alvaroBedoya #houseJudiciary

  23. Today: Former FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya’s testimony on AI and labor issues, and connections to public policy and worker rights.

    House Judiciary Committee hearing on 'Artifcial Intelligence: Examining Trends in Innovation and Competition", April 2, 2025.

    #AIandWork #ArtificialIntelligence #WorkplaceSurveillance #AutomatedFiring #DigitalRights #FutureOfWork #AIinTheWorkplace #LaborRights #TechAccountability #EthicalAI #alvaroBedoya #houseJudiciary

  24. Today: Former FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya’s testimony on AI and labor issues, and connections to public policy and worker rights.

    House Judiciary Committee hearing on 'Artifcial Intelligence: Examining Trends in Innovation and Competition", April 2, 2025.

    #AIandWork #ArtificialIntelligence #WorkplaceSurveillance #AutomatedFiring #DigitalRights #FutureOfWork #AIinTheWorkplace #LaborRights #TechAccountability #EthicalAI #alvaroBedoya #houseJudiciary

  25. Today: Former FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya’s testimony on AI and labor issues, and connections to public policy and worker rights.

    House Judiciary Committee hearing on 'Artifcial Intelligence: Examining Trends in Innovation and Competition", April 2, 2025.

    #AIandWork #ArtificialIntelligence #WorkplaceSurveillance #AutomatedFiring #DigitalRights #FutureOfWork #AIinTheWorkplace #LaborRights #TechAccountability #EthicalAI #alvaroBedoya #houseJudiciary

  26. @dyckron
    > Some of it is that managers want to watch employees

    Reminds me of the Yes Men and their Management Leisure Suit;

    youtube.com/watch?v=yK9Cs_UcTE

    If you want to see the future of work if surveillance capitalists get their way, have at look at the level of surveillance of students that's being normalised in schools. I find it horrifying.

    #TheYesMen #WorkplaceSurveillance

  27. @dyckron
    > Some of it is that managers want to watch employees

    Reminds me of the Yes Men and their Management Leisure Suit;

    youtube.com/watch?v=yK9Cs_UcTE

    If you want to see the future of work if surveillance capitalists get their way, have at look at the level of surveillance of students that's being normalised in schools. I find it horrifying.

    #TheYesMen #WorkplaceSurveillance

  28. @dyckron
    > Some of it is that managers want to watch employees

    Reminds me of the Yes Men and their Management Leisure Suit;

    youtube.com/watch?v=yK9Cs_UcTE

    If you want to see the future of work if surveillance capitalists get their way, have at look at the level of surveillance of students that's being normalised in schools. I find it horrifying.

    #TheYesMen #WorkplaceSurveillance