New forms of labor are also emerging under data colonialism in the “sharing economy.” Here data relations are fused with labor relations, although the existence of labor relations is controversially denied by platforms such as Uber. These new hybrid data/labor relations encompass a huge variety of more or less formalized work, including data processing. Labor is captured in a seemingly “scale-less” business model that detaches workers from institutional supports but richly rewards platform management. Rhetoric cannot disguise the potential for exploiting low-level work skills at a distance and therefore at a scale and speed without historical precedent (for example, the repetitive coding and data inputting necessary for the training of artificial intelligence in so-called Machine Learning).

Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, loc. 87