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Title: Patchwork: The Hidden, Human Labor of AI Integration within Essential Work
This paper examines the rapid introduction of AI and automation technologies within essential industries amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on participant observation and interviews within two sites of waste labor in the United States, we consider the substantial effort performed by frontline workers who smooth the relationship between robotics and their social and material environment. Over the course of the research, we found workers engaged in continuous acts of calibration, troubleshooting, and repair required to support AI technologies over time. In interrogating these sites, we develop the concept of patchwork: human labor that occurs in the space between what AI purports to do and what it actually accomplishes. We argue that it is necessary to consider the often-undervalued frontline work that makes up for AI's shortcomings during implementation, particularly as CSCW increasingly turns to discussions of Human-AI collaboration.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2037348
PAR ID:
10601674
Author(s) / Creator(s):
 ;  ;  ;  ;  
Publisher / Repository:
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction
Volume:
7
Issue:
CSCW1
ISSN:
2573-0142
Format(s):
Medium: X Size: p. 1-20
Size(s):
p. 1-20
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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