A lack of political will has made this a year of empty promises and negotiations over the most minimal rights, even as it becomes increasingly clear that the exploitation spiral of the gig economy can only be addressed with the legal recognition of workers’ employment.
Unlike a similar Rajasthan legislation, where algorithmic transparency can be sought only by the state and the welfare board, the Karnataka bill seeks to empower gig workers to request access to information about work, ratings and personal data
AI technology is created and imposed by industry and governments and can be halted, reimagined, and deployed for other ends by democratic interventions. Social security in platforms is a start but should not stop us from concrete and specific policymaking on the AI industry
There is a tendency to surrender the policy process around AI to a handful of tech companies who weaponise the very real anxieties about AI to distract from and evade concrete interventions
The Bill in its current form enables massive exploitation of both blue-and white-collar workers. It allows for the state to have unchecked power and virtually makes privacy online meaningless.
