Inside the Invisible Cage: How Algorithms Control Workers

Rahman, Hatim

ISBN 10: 0520395549 / ISBN 13: 9780520395541

Published by University of California Press, 2024

About this Item

Seller Inventory # I-9780520395541

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Inside the Invisible Cage: How Algorithms Control Workers
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication Date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0520395549
• ISBN 13: 9780520395541
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

In a world increasingly run by algorithms and artificial intelligence, Hatim Rahman traces how organizations are using algorithms to control workers in an “invisible cage.”
 
Inside the Invisible Cage uses unique longitudinal data to investigate how digital labor platforms use algorithms to dictate the actions of high-skilled workers by determining accepted behaviors, work opportunities, and even success. As Hatim Rahman explains, employers can use algorithms to shift rules and guidelines without notice, explanation, or recourse for workers. The invisible cage signals a profound shift in the way markets and organizations categorize and ultimately control people.
 
Unlike previous forms of labor control, the invisible cage is ubiquitous, yet it is also opaque and shifting, which makes breaking free from it difficult for workers. This book traces how the invisible cage was developed over time and the implications it has for the spread of new technology, such as generative artificial intelligence. Inside the Invisible Cage also provides organizations, workers, and policymakers with insights on how to ensure the future of work has truly equitable, mutually beneficial outcomes.

About the Author

Hatim A. Rahman is an award-winning assistant professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.