Doctoral Dissertation Research: Intersections of Labor, Language, and Value in the Production of Emerging Technologies

George Washington University, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

This dissertation project seeks to further understanding of the labor involved in producing language technologies, such as chatbots, large language models, and other artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled technologies. By focusing on the experiences of workers who create, curate, and label linguistic data, the researcher illuminates how everyday labor and decision-making shape new technologies as well as their social and cultural impacts. In addition to training a doctoral student in research methods and data analysis, this project improves public understanding of digital technologies and the data that animate them. Findings from the research will be shared with academic audiences across varied disciplines and with non-governmental organizations related to digital labor, language, and data. This project focuses on how language is valued and transformed in the context of producing new digital technologies. Specifically, the research examines the skills, tools, and rubrics used by various workers in the tech industry to generate and evaluate linguistic data. The researcher uses participant observation with a startup that is creating an AI-enabled language learning app, in addition to discourse analysis, semi-structured interviews, and life histories, to explore how language is made into data for technological ends. Additionally, the project asks how the experiences, career trajectories, and perspectives of workers inform the decisions they make throughout this process. In doing so, this dissertation research contributes to the social scientific study of technology by investigating how linguistic labor and workers’ understandings of language shape production. Moreover, this project sheds further light on the shifting nature of labor within an increasingly digital world. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.