AI-Driven Feedback Systems, Digital Labour, and Silent Quitting: Transforming African Workplaces

This paper examines the impact of artificial intelligence and digital technologies on the blue-collar gig economy in India, focusing on algorithmic management. This paper examines the impact of artificial intelligence and digital technologies on the blue collar gig economy in India, focusing on algorithmic management he use of automated systems to allocate, monitor, and evaluate work in location-based services such as ride sharing and delivery. Using a social justice framework and a mixed-methods approach comprising interviews with 16 gig workers and 21 key stakeholders, the study uncovers a dual reality: while AI-powered systems expand access to work and generate operational efficiencies, they simultaneously introduce significant challenges related to fairness, transparency, and worker dignity. Key findings reveal that algorithmic systems are opaque by design, produce inequitable outcomes, and are not structured to reward additional labour with proportionate pay. The study advocates for a pragmatic hybrid governance model an Algorithmic Human Manager framework in which technological efficiency and human accountability operate together rather than in opposition. The findings carry implications for policymakers, platform companies, and civil society organizations working to design equitable AI governance frameworks for the gig economy in India and across the Global South.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to be transformative for development, but Africa is currently facing a fragmented and challenging "AI divide". This paper provides an empirical analysis of the current state of the AI landscape and how it compares with Africa's technological preparedness for the future. In our analysis, we approach the "AI Divide" from three angles: infrastructure, accessibility, and human capacity. First, we look at the physical constraints that prevent Africa from integrating digitally. We then evaluate the human-centred factors that limit the development of AI technology on the continent. Finally, we examine the human capacity to develop AI systems on the continent and provide three focused case studies. Our investigation shows that the physical infrastructure needed to build an AI economy on the continent is lagging, with only 38% internet penetration, poor broadband coverage and less than 1% of all data centres globally. Other constraints include high data costs relative to income, gender-based digital divides, and the need to build more representative NLP models that can understand Africa's native languages. However, there are positive trends towards the emergence of local initiatives and grassroots movements, such as startups and universities, contributing to AI development on the continent. Based on these findings, we provide concrete recommendations to policymakers to help develop a more comprehensive and equitable AI ecosystem on the African continent.

The digital transformation of the Dutch labour market is reshaping occupational language, career pathways, and job-related skills. Addressing these changes requires granular labour market intelligence. This paper develops an AI-based methodology to analyse digitalisation using data covering millions of Dutch job profiles. The methodology combines embedding-based similarity search and large language model classification to map unstructured job information to harmonised ESCO occupations. We also introduce a Digital Semantic Score that measures how strongly job titles and skills are associated with digital concepts relative to a non-digital reference. Using embeddings and cosine similarity to transparent digital and non-digital anchor groups, this indicator moves beyond keyword-based approaches by capturing broader digital meanings in occupational language and worker skill profiles. It enables analysis across occupations, career transitions, emerging job-title vocabulary, and skill digitality. The findings reveal that digitalisation is unevenly distributed across the labour market. Digital job-title language is most prominent among managerial, professional and ICT-related occupations, but is increasingly visible in hybrid business, marketing and automation-related roles. Career-transition analyses show that movement toward digital work is pathway-dependent, while skill analyses highlight the multidimensional nature of digital capability, encompassing technical, hybrid and business-systems skills. By combining profile data, AI-supported occupational classification and semantic scoring, this study advances AI-driven labour market analytics and provides a scalable framework for monitoring digital labour market change. The methodology helps identify emerging skill needs, support reskilling strategies, and inform policies addressing skills mismatches and labour shortages in the Netherlands.