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What is AI Doing to Job Quality? Platformization, Fissured Workplaces and Dispersion

Author

Listed:
  • Antonio A. Casilli

    (IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris, SES - Département Sciences Economiques et Sociales - Télécom Paris - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris, NOS - Numérique, Organisation et Société - I3 SES - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation de Telecom Paris - Télécom Paris - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris - I3 - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Paola Tubaro

    (CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, ENSAE Paris - École Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Économique - Groupe ENSAE-ENSAI - Groupe des Écoles Nationales d'Économie et Statistique - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris, CREST - Centre de Recherche en Économie et Statistique - ENSAI - Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Analyse de l'Information [Bruz] - Groupe ENSAE-ENSAI - Groupe des Écoles Nationales d'Économie et Statistique - X - École polytechnique - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris - ENSAE Paris - École Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Économique - Groupe ENSAE-ENSAI - Groupe des Écoles Nationales d'Économie et Statistique - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

Debates about AI and labour are focused on job losses, yet give little consideration to how this technology affects actual working experiences. This chapter examines the impact of AI on job quality through its use and through the invisibilized labour that sustains it, using the framework of the European Job Quality Index. AI deployment often intensifies work, increases surveillance and limits worker autonomy, while its production relies on a highly stratified global workforce of engineers and hidden data workers. These arrangements have resulted in companies outsourcing functions while maintaining control over production in what is known as a ‘fissured workplace'. Furthermore, AI-driven workplaces are creating a ‘regime of dispersion' where workers juggle numerous fragmented tasks. The chapter explores these phenomena, correlated as they are in terms of AI and job quality, while identifying the research agenda and policy implications which would safeguard all users in AI's global supply chains.

Suggested Citation

  • Antonio A. Casilli & Paola Tubaro, 2026. "What is AI Doing to Job Quality? Platformization, Fissured Workplaces and Dispersion," Post-Print hal-05562501, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05562501
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://polytechnique.hal.science/hal-05562501v1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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