Innovation For All - Diversity in Tech and Business

The Ghost Workers Behind the Tech Industry, feat. Mary Gray

Episode Summary

Mary Gray, Senior Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research and co-author of Ghost Work: How to Stop Silicon Valley from Building a New Global Underclass, discusses the work of the often invisible contract employees who bring an essential human element to tec. The COVID-19 pandemic is bringing their undeniable value to light. Note: This was originally recorded in early 2020.

Episode Notes

You'll learn

• How contract workers are essential in aiding AIs and search engines
• Examples of a ghost work in everyday technology
• How the tech industry often devalues contract employees
• What data labeling is
• What a ghost worker's daily schedule looks like
• How the growing telehealth industry is a prime example of under-appreciated, yet essential contract work
• The three elements that undermine job happiness
• How business are benefiting from contract workers
• The growing challenges of moving towards more contract-driven business
• Why we should mind the gap rather than close the gap
• How the pandemic is demonstrating the value of contract and ghost work
• What are the limits of tech and where does human creativity and spontaneity become irreplaceable

Links and Mentions

• Lead Genius
• Amara
• Barbara Grosz
• Mark Sendak
• Ghostwork.info

Connect with Mary:

• Twitter
• Website