Episode 12: Nothing About Us Without Us

Nothing About Us Without Us

Guest: Dr Christina Colclough

We all agree that new technologies are cool, but unintended consequences can be very hard to reverse.  Some applications of technologies such as AI have already shown harmful unintended consequences.  It is becoming clear that governance of these emerging technologies must extend to a broader audience.

Today we will be talking with Dr Christina Colclough.  Dr Colclough is a political economist with a PhD in Sociology from the University of Copenhagen.  She has been engaged for over a decade in the global discussion of digital technology as it relates to work and workers from the vantage point of the trade union movement across the world.  Dr Colclough is author of the trade union movement’s first statement of principles on workers’ data rights and the ethics of AI. Colclough is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in the UK and former board member of the Global Partnership of AI.

Trade unions continue to influence business practices across Europe.  For instance, in many European countries the staff of enterprises domiciled there are entitled to representation on the boards of corporations.

In recent years Dr Colclough founded The Why Not Lab to examine the interaction of work and technology, studying the ethics of application of AI techniques and analyzing models of governance for AI systems.

Recorded: 2022-09-19