Workers and Power

Workers and Power

The COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on essential workers: grocery workers who keep shelves stocked with food and cleaning supplies, truckers who transport goods across the country, and sanitation workers who maintain city streets and sidewalks. Increasingly, these workers are subjected to workplace surveillance technologies that purport to increase efficiency by following their routes, precisely timing their breaks, and making just-in-time shift changes. Join us as we explore the impact of these technologies on workers with Ali Alkhatib, Director of the Center for Applied Data Ethics at the University of San Francisco, and Karen Levy, Assistant Professor at the School of Information Science at Cornell University.

Meet the Guest: Ali Alkhatib

Ali Alkhatib

Director of the Center for Applied Data Ethics at the University of San Francisco

Ali Alkhatib is a social computing researcher trained in Computer Science and Anthropology. His research explores how people relate to artificial intelligence and technology broadly, and attempts to situate those relationships in historical backdrops and ontological foundations using scholarship from the social sciences. Alkhatib studied Computer Science at Stanford and earned a B.A. in Anthropology and a B.S. in Informatics from UC Irvine.

Meet the Guest: Karen Levy

Presented by Kirsten Martin

Karen Levy

Assistant Professor of Information Science, Cornell University; Associate Faculty, Cornell Law SchoolPhotograph of Karen Levy

Karen Levy is an assistant professor of Information Science at Cornell University and associate faculty at Cornell Law School. Her research focuses on social, legal, and ethical dimensions of emerging technologies, with particular focus on surveillance and privacy, as well as technology’s effects on marginalized groups. Her current book project, Data Driven, examines the development of legal and organizational surveillance in the United States trucking industry. Dr. Levy holds a Ph.D. in sociology from Princeton University and a J.D. from Indiana University Maurer School of Law.

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Presented by Kirsten Martin and Elizabeth Renieris

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Featured Speakers: 

  • Ali Alkhatib, Director of the Center for Applied Data Ethics, University of San Francisco
  • Karen Levy, Assistant Professor of Information Science, Cornell University; Associate Faculty, Cornell Law School

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