I listened to the interview and watched the video on AI model employees.

1) One thing that really shocked me in the film was how quickly the surveillance device became normalized in Nita’s life. At first, the wearable device was introduced casually, as if it were simply a tool to help her improve at work and gain bonuses. However, it slowly expanded into monitoring her sleep, movement, social life and even her behaviour outside the workplace. In my opinion, this is quite scary because I don’t know how my personal information be interpreted or used. The moment that stood out to me most was when her boss claimed that wearing it outside work was optional but then pressured her to even sleep with it on because it would supposedly improve her performance. That conveys the problem with systems of surveillance and how they often disguise themselves as supportive or beneficial while actually controlling people’s lives. Another thing that shocked me was the ending, where the technology misinterpreted the situation and triggered security intervention. The system had more authority than human understanding, which made the ending feel very unsettling because it showed how dangerous it can be when institutions trust data more than people.

In Timnit Gebru’s podcast, I was surprised by her argument that AI is often presented as something intelligent and objective when it is actually shaped by corporate interests and human bias. I had never thought deeply before about the amount of hidden labour behind AI systems, such as underpaid workers labelling data, moderating harmful content and training algorithms. Companies market AI as futuristic and automated, but Gebru explained that these systems depend heavily on invisible human labour and exploitative working conditions. I was also interested in her idea of “stochastic parrots”, where AI systems like chatbots do not truly understand language but instead predict patterns from huge amounts of data. I also learned about this before in a scientific thinking general lecture, but not in depth as I did in the podcast. This completely changed the way I think about AI because it made me realize that people often humanize these systems too much and trust them more than they should.

2) An important connection between the video, podcast and the course was the relationship between technology, power and identity. Throughout the course, we discussed how systems and institutions shape human behaviour and both the video, and the podcast reflected this idea strongly. In the video, Nita slowly changed her personality and daily habits in order to satisfy the wearable system. She stopped going out, isolated herself from social situations and became obsessed with turning the red indicators into green ones. This connected to our discussions about how people internalize systems of control and begin disciplining themselves without direct force. It also related to the videos and discussions we had on identity and culture. Nita eventually monitored herself constantly simply because she knew she was being watched, and this alone is a huge change in identity and personality just to satisfy a device.

The podcast connected to class discussions about ethics and social inequality because Timnit Gebru emphasized that AI systems are not neutral technologies. Instead, they reproduce existing inequalities, biases and power structures from society. This relates to conversations we had in class about how technology often reflects the values of the people and corporations creating it rather than existing independently from society. We were also discussing the same exact same topic in class when we were divided into groups to discuss various harmful aspects of AI.

3) Based on what I learned from both the video and the podcast, I think I will become much more critical and aware of how much personal information I share with digital platforms and technologies, especially AI based platforms. Before this, I usually viewed apps, tracking systems and AI tools as mostly convenient. However, the things we learned in class through discussions, online class on AI use and assignments taught me to be more careful. The video made me realize how easily surveillance can become normalized when it is connected to rewards, productivity or social approval. For example, Nita willingly changed her lifestyle because she wanted bonuses and feared losing her job, even though the system was slowly taking away her autonomy. This made me reflect on how often people trade privacy for convenience without fully understanding the consequences and then having to deal with the repercussions later.

The podcast also made me rethink the way I view AI in everyday life. I want to question technological progress more critically instead of automatically assuming that newer technology is always better for society. I also think I will pay more attention to the human impact behind AI systems, including labour exploitation, environmental costs and bias, rather than only focusing on the benefits or innovation being advertised or offered to us.

4) One thing I think should be explored more in the course is the connection between AI, surveillance, labour and mental health. We discussed these things, but I felt that we needed to make better connections and discuss them more in depth. For example, we subtly talked about AI and mental health, when it’s an extremely important topic with a lot to discuss. The video showed how constant monitoring can psychologically affect someone by creating anxiety, isolation and pressure to constantly optimize themselves. Nita eventually shaped her entire identity around productivity scores and algorithmic approval, which made me think about how surveillance technologies can affect self-worth and personal freedom. At the same time, Timnit Gebru’s podcast highlighted how AI systems are tied to exploitation and corporate power, especially through hidden labour and data extraction.

I think it would be valuable for the course to explore how these technologies influence people emotionally and psychologically, especially younger generations who are growing up surrounded by tracking systems, algorithms and social media metrics, that follow their daily interactions. Discussions about digital burnout, algorithmic pressure and the mental health effects of constantly being monitored would connect strongly to the themes of identity, autonomy, and social power that we already discussed in class.