In the framework of Hyperemployment, the symposium AUTOMATE ALL THE THINGS! wants to explore a contradiction implicit in the increasing automation of work: is this process, which should apparently open up a new age of free time, no labour and universal basic income, instead turning humans into software agents, invisible slaves of the machines? Welcomed as a curse by the Luddites a tthe very beginning of the industrial age, throughout the 20th century,automation did not destroy human labour, but profoundly changed itsorganisation on a global scale. In the late-20th century, technological innovations brought automation to a brand new level, accelerating the shift toward a post-industrial economic model. Today, with many jobs previously run by humans becoming fully automated, the dream– or nightmare – of a post-work society seems closer than ever; andyet, at a closer look, automation in its current form isn’t destroying human labour. Rather, it is making it invisible.
Domenico Quaranta
Portraying the Invisible Crowd
Throughout history, portraying workers has often been a step into recognising their existence, allowing them the dignity tobe considered as a subject, as well as the representatives of a “class”. Digging into the research for the show, Hyperemployment’s curator Domenico Quaranta will offer atour through various artistic efforts to portray online workers,from Chinese Gold Farmers to scan-ops, from gig workers to online content moderators.
KEYNOTE
Elisa Giardina Papa
Notes on Post-Work: Free Time and the Human Infrastructures that Sustain Automation and Artificial Intelligence
Most of the academic and political discourse on post-workhas focused on the relationship between automation andfree time. That is, it has posited that automation has theemancipatory potential to free us all from work: to reducenecessary working hours or at least to devote ourselvesto more intellectually rewarding jobs (immaterial labour).What is not fully convincing about this approach is that it isgrounded in a hierarchical separation between machinesand humans. What is missing is the acknowledgment of thehuman infrastructure that sustains automation and artificialintelligence. The invisible, precarious, alienated, low-paidand offshored workforce that automation requires in orderto function properly. These workers and their tasks are thefocus of this talk.
LECTURE PERFORMANCE
Sebastian Schmieg
I Will Say Whatever You Want In Front Of A Pizza, 2017
I Will Say Whatever You Want In Front Of A Pizza is aspeculative Prezi (a presentation software) that exploresdigital labour, the amalgamation of humans and software,and the possibility of interventions inside algorithmic systems.Narrated from the perspective of a cloud worker, the Prezivideo presents digital workers as software extensions. Theubiquitous network and the computerisation of everythinghave not only blurred the lines between bots and people –supposedly autonomous programs are sometimes people whohave to act as if they were software; this development hasalso made it very easy for everyone to hire, programme andretire humans as part of any workflow: bodies and minds thatcan be plugged in, rewired and discarded as one sees fit.
BOOK PRESENTATION
Silvio Lorusso
EntreprecariatEntreprecariat (Krisis Publishing, 2018; Onomatopee, 2019)
explores and maps out the current entrepreneurial ideology from a precarious perspective. The Entreprecariat indicates a reality where change is natural and healthy, whatever it maybring. A reality populated by motivational posters, productivity tools, mobile offices and self-help techniques. A reality in which a mix of entrepreneurial ideology and widespread precarity is what regulates professional social media, online marketplaces for self-employment and crowdfunding platforms for personal needs. The result? A life in permanent beta, with sometimes tragic implications.
ROUND TABLE
Michael Mandiberg
Sašo Sedlaček
Sanela Jahić
Domenico Quaranta – moderator
Art Making in the Age of Automation
How does the increasing automation of labour affect artistic practice, on all the levels of content, process and form? How is it affecting the present society and our vision of the future?What can art do to deal with the increasing fragmentation of human labour and its disappearance from visibility, and give it back its presence and dignity? Taking off from their own work and from the statements of other participants in the symposium, the artists involved in the round table will attempt to offer an answer to these and other questions.