Thomas Le Bonniec, a doctoral researcher at DiPLab, has published an op-ed in Le Nouvel Obs criticizing the European Commission’s proposed “Omnibus” digital directive. In his piece, he argues that the directive would weaken key elements of EU digital law while primarily benefiting large U.S. technology companies, including Meta, Palantir Technologies, and Alphabet. Le Bonniec situates the proposal in the broader context of the European Union’s continued reliance on American software and digital infrastructure. According to his analysis, the Omnibus directive does not reduce this dependency but instead reinforces it. He questions whether the European Commission, led by President Ursula von der Leyen and Vice-President for technological sovereignty Henna Virkkunen, is capable of advancing genuine digital autonomy under these conditions. The op-ed also highlights the potential impact on privacy and data protection. Le Bonniec warns that the directive could significantly undermine existing safeguards, without delivering the regulatory simplification or innovation gains promised by the Commission. Ultimately, he frames the Omnibus directive as a political choice with strategic consequences. As long as the EU follows a path of regulatory alignment that favors U.S. digital interests, he argues, it risks entrenching its dependence on Washington. Rejecting the Omnibus directive, Le Bonniec concludes, would be a first step toward building a credible and independent European digital sovereignty.

Antonio Casilli, professor and researcher at DiPLab, appeared in a recent episode of Le Iene, Italy’s well-known investigative television program, as part of an in-depth report on the working conditions of people who train artificial intelligence systems in Nairobi, Kenya. No Caption No Caption No Caption No Caption The report focuses on the human infrastructure behind AI technologies: men and women who label data, moderate content, and refine algorithms, often working for major multinational companies under precarious conditions. Casilli contributed his analysis to help contextualize this hidden economy and explain the structural dynamics that shape it. A significant part of the investigation takes place in Nairobi, Kenya, where many of these tasks are outsourced. The report documents how local workers are employed to train algorithms for low pay, performing repetitive and psychologically demanding work that makes AI systems appear more “intelligent.” Through on-the-ground reporting and interviews, journalist Nicola Barraco examines the economic and human costs embedded in today’s AI supply chains. Casilli’s intervention situates these testimonies within a broader critique of the global AI industry. The segment underscores a central question: as artificial intelligence becomes more powerful and profitable, who bears the real cost of its development? By bringing visibility to this hidden labor, Le Iene contributes to a growing international debate on ethics, accountability, and working conditions in the AI economy.

DiPLab is proud to announce the publication of our latest research report: Data Work in Egypt: Who Are the Workers Behind Artificial Intelligence? This new study, led by Dr. Myriam Raymond with Lucy Neveux, Prof. Antonio A. Casilli, and Dr. Paola Tubaro, provides the first comprehensive examination of Egyptian data workers training AI systems for tech giants worldwide. How to cite this report: > Myriam Raymond, Lucy Neveux, Antonio A. Casilli, Paola Tubaro (2025). “Data > Work in Egypt. Who are the Workers Behind Artificial Intelligence”. DiPLab > Report. <https://hal.science/hal-05417930> > > Tweet Rapport DiPLab Egypte-DefcDownload KEY FINDINGS AT A GLANCE Our survey of over 600 Egyptian platform workers reveals a troubling reality: * Three-quarters depend on platform income to pay their bills * Average monthly earnings: $58.76 (less than half Egypt’s minimum wage of $147) * Hourly rate: $1.22 (compared to global average of $4.43 in 2018) * 76% identify as men, 74% are between 18-34 years old * 60% hold bachelor’s degrees in science or technical fields * 83% work on platforms out of financial necessity Both male and female data workers tend to be younger than the general Egyptian workforce A WORKFORCE IN CRISIS While Silicon Valley celebrates AI breakthroughs, our research exposes the human cost behind these innovations. Egyptian workers perform essential tasks—labeling images, transcribing audio, evaluating content, annotating data—that train machine learning models used globally. Yet they earn poverty wages for skilled work requiring technical knowledge and multilingual literacy. “We were struck by the contradiction,” says lead researcher Dr. Myriam Raymond. “These are highly educated individuals—60% hold bachelor’s degrees in science or technical fields—yet they’re earning $1.22 per hour on average, working for global tech companies that profit enormously from their labor.” Our data reveals severe income volatility. Rather than providing stable supplemental income, platform work traps Egyptian workers in a cycle of precarity: Most workers experience volatile or extremely volatile income, with earnings fluctuating dramatically month to month When we asked how workers used their last month’s platform earnings, the results were stark: the overwhelming majority spent their income immediately on rent, food, and clothes. Only a tiny fraction had the financial security to use earnings for hobbies or savings. Platform work serves as a lifeline rather than a source of financial flexibility CONDITIONS WORSE THAN SEVEN YEARS AGO Comparing our findings with the International Labor Organization’s 2018 global study reveals a disturbing trend: conditions for data workers have deteriorated significantly. * Increased education requirements: 70% now hold bachelor’s degrees vs. 57% globally in 2018 * Hourly rates dropped 72%: from $4.43 (2018 global average) to $1.22 (Egypt 2025) * Workforce demographic shift: from married adults with children to precarious single young people OUR RECOMMENDATIONS DiPLab’s report concludes with actionable policy recommendations: For Governments: * Improve measurement of data work in official statistics * Promote financial inclusion for platform workers * Simplify activity registration to encourage formalization * Ensure social security coverage For Platforms: * Implement transparent payment systems with minimum wage requirements * Disclose task allocation criteria clearly * Establish fair conflict resolution mechanisms * Provide dedicated worker support

What does our relationship with work actually mean? This was the central question explored on France 24’s The Debate, where DiPLab’s own Antonio Casilli, Professor of Sociology at Institut Polytechnique de Paris, joined a panel of experts to dissect the evolving landscape of work in an age of AI, gig economies, and generational upheaval. Professor Casilli brought his extensive research on digital labor and platform economies to the conversation, offering crucial context on how technology is reshaping not just what work we do, but how we think about work itself. The debate, facilitated by journalist François Picard, brought together diverse perspectives including Dipty Chander (President of E-mma), Benjamin Chaminade (CEO of Reboot-inc), and economist Gilles Saint-Paul. Alongside Casilli, they explored whether humans should still define themselves by how they earn their keep, and what we can expect as inequality grows and technology accelerates.

DiPLab is proud to announce that the documentary In the Belly of AI, directed by Henri Poulain and co-written by DiPLab’s Antonio Casilli together with Julien Goetz and Lili Fernandez, has been awarded the 44th International URTI (International Radio and Television Union) Grand Prix for Author’s Documentary. This distinction is one of the most prestigious international awards in public broadcasting. It recognizes the depth and urgency of the stories the film brings to light. Based on DiPLab’s long-term research into digital labor and the hidden workforce behind artificial intelligence, In the Belly of AI has already been broadcast across numerous countries, including France, Japan, Canada, Spain, Belgium, and Finland. The URTI Grand Prix gives renewed momentum to the documentary’s global journey, at a time when the themes it explores are becoming more pressing every day. The team extends its gratitude to France Télévisions, whose public service mission remains essential to making such investigations possible, and to Federation Studios, whose international distribution work has allowed the film to reach audiences around the world.

In a recent article on Radio France Internationale (RFI), to which DiPLab’s co-founder Antonio Casilli contributed on behalf of the research group, readers encounter detailed testimonies from AI’s data workers across Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, Togo, Uganda, Ghana, and South Africa who have performed data annotation and AI-training tasks for companies such as Outlier, Appen, and Mindrift. These stories confirm a structural reality: while generative AI has exploded, it has made AI’s hidden labor more indispensable than ever. Moreover, the working conditions behind the scenes remain precarious. Workers describe how, after years of continuous tasks on online platforms, work has dried up, accounts have been abruptly closed, and only short, unstable tasks remain. Others relate juggling multiple platforms and projects (LLM evaluation, text and image annotation, audio labelling) because earnings from any single platform are not sufficient. Across the African continent, the boom in AI has not reduced human labor needs; on the contrary, as DiPLab’s data shows, the growth of generative systems requires more human re-training and fine-tuning, not less. The testimonies gathered also echo the long history of “digital labor” in Africa: fragmented, piecemeal work distributed by global companies seeking inexpensive and highly flexible labor. The scandals surrounding Sama (a Kenyan company that moderated content for Meta and OpenAI before workers exposed traumatic working conditions) illustrate the human toll: exposure to extreme content, unstable contracts, and pressure to meet performance targets, sometimes for salaries that do not cover basic living expenses. This pressure is also felt in creative domains. Designers and illustrators in African countries report collapsing compensation as generative tools flood the market, while their own creative output is used to train the models that now compete with them. As Casilli notes, creative professionals have been “pulled into the orbit of AI,” both feeding and being displaced by the same systems. The article ultimately highlights a central contradiction of the AI industry: its glamorous narratives depend on a concealed workforce operating under poor conditions. Through ongoing documentation and research, DiPLab aims to ensure that these workers are not forgotten, and that the future of AI is built on fair and transparent labor practices, not disposable digital workers.

France Culture’s show Les Pieds sur Terre has devoted a recent episode to what has come to be known as the Siri scandal—the discovery that Apple’s voice assistant recorded private conversations without users’ knowledge. The episode, titled “Hey Siri, are you recording me?” [Dis Siri, est-ce que tu m’enregistres ?, in French], available for replay, features prominently the first-person account of DiPLab’s Thomas Le Bonniec, who partook in this system as part of the large workforce tasked with listening to and annotating Siri recordings. A PhD candidate at the Institut Polytechnique de Paris, Le Bonniec relates his experience which echoes that of hundreds of workers hired to sift through thousands of audio snippets, often recorded unintentionally: medical information, intimate details, sensitive data, and countless fragments of daily life. This role of data worker is often precarious, outsourced, and hidden. This occupation aligns with that of millions of AI trainers, click workers, and content moderators whose labor quietly powers today’s artificial intelligence systems. Their work sheds light on how AI systems rely on vast amounts of human-powered tasks, often carried out under poor working conditions and with limited recognition. Le Bonniec’s testimony contributes to a growing body of evidence emphasizing that behind every “automated” system stands a global labor force ensuring that AI functions as intended.

RTS, Switzerland’s national television channel, broadcast a report on data annotation platforms between Europe and Africa. As part of the program “A Bon Entendeur,” journalist Linda Bourget interviewed Antonio Casilli, professor at the Institut Polytechnique de Paris and co-director of DiPLab. > ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude: generative artificial intelligence is all around us. > But the power of this technology relies heavily on humans. Behind these tools > are millions of workers who are never talked about. Who are they? What do they > do? Why are they invisible? A report from Geneva to Nairobi. > > All these tasks outsourced abroad help improve the artificial intelligence we > use here. But you may have noticed that some of the answers provided by tools > such as ChatGPT and others are very local. To achieve this result, annotators > are also recruited in Switzerland. Another face of the precariousness of AI > workers.

We are thrilled to announce a significant milestone for one of our own: Dr. Mathilde Abel has been appointed as an Associate Professor at Télécom Paris, Institut Polytechnique de Paris! This fantastic achievement recognizes Dr. Abel’s cutting-edge work and commitment to understanding the complexities of digital capitalism and platform labor. During her time as a postdoc with DiPLab, Dr. Abel was a crucial member of our team, contributing significantly to the Voices from Online Labour (VOLI) project. Her work on VOLI focused on AI-related platform work in Latin America, offering vital insights into the evolving landscape of digital work in the Global South. Dr. Abel’s research expertise sits at the intersection of several critical fields: * Platform labor * Algorithmic governance * Cognitive asymmetries in digital capitalism Her methodological approach is unique and robust, combining qualitative fieldwork with computational methods and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to analyze worker-generated data. This blend of methods allows her to capture both the granular human experience and the large-scale patterns shaping digital work. CONGRATULATIONS, MATHILDE! Dr. Abel holds a PhD in Economics from Sorbonne Nouvelle University. Her new role as a faculty member at Télécom Paris not only marks an exciting personal career step but also solidifies the continued relationship between her research and the goals of DiPLab. We look forward to many future collaborations!

DiPLab, as one of the co-organizers of INDL-8 (the 8th annual conference of the International Network on Digital Labor), has allocated 11 scholarships to support travel, accommodation, and meals of promising speakers. The theme of this year’s conference is “Contesting Digital Labor: Resistance, Counter-uses, and New Directions in Research”. The recipients represent a global cohort of emerging scholars whose research touches upon the social and economic impacts of digital labor worldwide. The studies they will be presenting at INDL-8 span diverse topics and geographic contexts—from AI work in Romania, to gig work in India and Brazil, to freelance work in Argentina. They will be addressing critical issues like algorithmic management, gender dynamics, and health impacts. Here is the final list of our recipients: * Gonzague Isirabahenda (Universitatea Babeş-Bolyai [Cluj-Napoca], Romania) for the paper Reconsidering the implementation of Artificial intelligence in call centre jobs: Ethnographic study * Mariana Fernández Massi (CONICET, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas [Buenos Aires], Argentina) for the paper Algorithmic management and labour control on freelance platforms (in collaboration with Julieta Longo)   * James Oyange (African Content Moderators Union [Nairobi], Kenya), for the paper Empowering AI’s Invisible Workforce: Advancing Transparency and Data Protection for Data Workers. * Ethan Chiu (Yale University [New Haven], USA), for the paper The Human Circuit: A Comparative Study of the Semiconductor Industry’s Labor Conditions in the US and Taiwan * Debarun Narayan Dutta (Hertie School of Governance [Berlin], Germany) for the paper Orchestrating Mobility – How Immigration Agencies, Universities, and Platform Companies Construct the Migration and Labor Pathways of Indian Food Delivery Workers in Berlin * Dipsita Dhar (Centre for Studies of Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University [New Delhi], India), for the paper From Riders to Influencers: The “Gigfluencer” Phenomenon in Ridesourcing DLPs (in collaboration with Ashique Ali Thuppilikkat) * Neha Gupta (Tata Institute of Social Sciences [Mumbai], India), for the paper Motherhood at the margins: ASHAs and the digital labour of antenatal care work * Søren Bøgh Sørensen (Copenhagen Business School [Copenhagen], Denmark), for the paper The Humans Behind the Filter: Uncovering the Costs and Consequences of Content Moderators in Kenya (in collaboration with Ephantus Kanyugi) * Amanda Biazzi (Universidade Estadual de Maringá [Maringá], Brazil), for the paper Technostress and the Health Related Risks on Content Production of Self-Employed Professionals: A Study with Brazilian Psychologists * Kanikka Sersia (Graduate Institute of International and Development studies [Geneva], Switzerland), for her paper Algorithms and the politics of production in the platform economy * Subhashri Sarkar (Indian Institute of Science Education and Research [Mohali], India), for the paper Precarity in Motion: Gendered Experiences in India’s Ride-Hailing Platform Work Please join us at the Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna (Aula Magna, Santa Cristina venue), on September 10, 9am to meet our recipients at the scholarship ceremony during the opening session of the INDL-8 conference.