Health Inc Seminar Series is co-hosted by the Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, the DLSPH’s Centre for Global Health, and the WHO Collaborating Centre for Governance, Accountability and Transparency in the Pharmaceutical Sector. 

In this seminar, Professor Mark Graham will discuss who ultimately benefits—and who is excluded—when the places in which we live and work become more deeply integrated with digital systems. Though the technology industry has sold the promise of AI as a technology that will democratize wealth, prosperity, and access to information, the reality is that a hidden labour force of millions endure appalling conditions so these technologies can exist. Professor Graham will discuss his ongoing research into digital labour and the global gig economy, and specifically, Fairwork, a participatory action research project initiated in 2018 across 39 countries, which has engaged workers, trade unions, platforms, and policymakers in establishing minimum fair work standards in the digital economy. He will discuss how action research methodology can establish positive feedback loops, driving equitable changes, and the utility for scholars and practitioners studying the commercial determinants of health.

Recommended readings:

Graham, M., Alyanak, O., Bertolini, A., Feuerstein, P., Kuttler, T., Ustek Spilda, F., & Valente, J. (2025). Pressure and praise as an action research methodology: The case of Fairwork. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X251336893

Muldoon, J., Cant, C., Wu, B., & Graham, M. (2024). A typology of artificial intelligence data work. Big Data & Society, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/20539517241232632

Cant, C., Muldoon, J. & Graham, M. (2024). Feeding the machine: The hidden human labour powering AI. Canongate: Edinburgh and London, United Kingdom.