The AI Disruption Speaker Series: Karen Levy

Karen Levy is an associate professor of Information Science at Cornell University and associated faculty at Cornell Law School. She is the author of Data Driven: Truckers, Technology, and the New Workplace Surveillance (Princeton University Press 2023). Levy is a New America Fellow and a Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research's program on Innovation, Equity, and the Future of Prosperity.

Abstract:
In this talk, I'll discuss some recent projects on AI deployments in a variety of workplaces, including the long-haul trucking industry and brick-and-mortar retail. While discussions about AI and work often focus on worker displacement and deskilling, I argue for a simultaneous focus on the preservation of quality and dignity in AI-impacted workplaces, as well as attention to the managerial and relational impacts of AI across work environments.

About the speaker series:
The CIRSS Speaker Series continues in Fall on the new theme of “The AI Disruption.” Our speakers will discuss how recent advances in AI have reshaped their research — what has been made easier and what has become more difficult — and reflect upon its broader disruptive impact on society.

We meet most Wednesdays, 9am-10am Central time, in Zoom. Everyone is welcome to attend. More information, including upcoming speaker schedule and links to recordings, is available on the series webpage. For weekly updates on upcoming talks, subscribe to our CIRSS Seminars mailing list. Our Fall series is led by Yuanxi Fu and Timothy McPhillips, and supported by the Center for Informatics Research in Science and Scholarship (CIRSS) and the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.