What Does This Mean?
[ RESEARCH_TERM ][ LABOR ]
The hidden human labor — data labeling, content moderation, and similar tasks — that operates invisibly behind the scenes to make products appear fully automated or 'AI-powered.'
REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE
"The 'AI-powered' moderation tool was really just ghost work done by underpaid contractors."
LORE & ORIGIN
Coined by anthropologist Mary L. Gray and computer scientist Siddharth Suri in their 2019 book 'Ghost Work: How to Stop Silicon Valley from Building a New Global Underclass,' which documented the invisible human workforce underlying supposedly automated tech systems.
FIRST SEEN
2019
PEAK ERA (EDITORIAL)
2019 (Book Publication) / 2020s (AI Labor Critique Discourse)
CURRENT STATUS
Mainstream Slang
Related To:
EQUIVALENT CONCEPTS IN OTHER LANGUAGES
AURA IMPACT ⓘ
+2 AURA
TREND STATUS
→ STEADY
EDITORIAL ESTIMATE
CULTURE CATEGORY
[ RESEARCH_TERM ][ LABOR ]
RELATED TERMS
MENTIONS OVER TIME
DOCUMENTED SINCE
2019
NOW
Radar observation data not yet available for this term.
RELATED SEARCHES
TOP PLATFORMS
Not enough Radar data yet to show a platform breakdown.
WHEN DID YOU FIRST HEAR THIS?
CLICK AN OPTION BELOW TO CAST YOUR VOTE.
[ VOTE TO REVEAL COMMUNITY RESULTS ]