Aronson Family Lecture Series

Purdue staff, students and instructors are invited to attend a keynote speech and discussion exploring the power of AI in our modern world and delving into the hidden workforce of human labor behind the demands of continually evolving AI systems. Registration is available online.

Lecture and "How We Think" Panel Details

Keynote Lecture: Ghost Work: The Labor that Powers AI
Feb. 29, 2024 5:30pm - 6:30pm  |  Honors Hall, HCRN 1066

Dr. Siddharth Suri will present his research on the invisible labor that powers modern technologies like AI and how we can create ethical solutions for workers.

"How We Think" Panel Discussion:
Feb. 28, 2023  5:30 - 6:30pm  |  Honors Hall, HCRN 1066

The "How We Think" panel brings together faculty from across the university to discuss their disciplinary perspectives around a common object, exploring what the object makes them think about and why. Our panelists will be discussing a recent news story featuring AI. Panelists: Ekaterina Babintseva (History), Melissa Chomintra (Libraries), Romila Pradhan (Polytechnic), Ankita Raturi (Agricultural and Biological Engineering), and Kaylyn Schiff (Political Science)

Aronson Interactive Forum with Dr. Suri:
Feb. 29, 2024 12:00-1:30 PM | PKRW 159

This interdisciplinary forum with Aarhus University will feature a guided discussion with Dr. Suri on one of his recent articles, "Quantifying the Invisible Labor in Crowd Work." Lunch will be provided. Space is limited for this event, so an RSVP is required.

Keynote Speaker: Siddharth Suri

Siddharth Suri, a senior principal researcher working for Microsoft Research, will be delivering the keynote. As a leader in designing and conducting "virtual lab" experiments, Suri was able to turn his computational social science research into a full study of the workers who power many modern apps, websites and AI systems.

Katie Jarriel, clinical assistant professor and Aronson faculty chair within the John Martinson Honors College, said Suri was selected as the speaker because his work appeals to an interdisciplinary reach, which is a key focus of the college.

“His research has examined the way that AI and big tech companies are founded on human labor, and how this often goes unnoticed by the general public,” Jarriel said. “We think of the technology, but we sometimes lose focus on the humans who are doing all of the fundamental work to create these tools. Dr. Suri’s work also bridges industry and the university.”

Through presenting his combined qualitative and quantitative research findings, Suri’s keynote will shed light on how ghost workers have managed to build their own collaborative network, the lengths workers must go to find good sustainable work and where the power ultimately lies in the ever-changing market for artificial intelligence.