Forced entrepreneurs of all countries unite - Crowdsourcing

The digital working world requires more self-competence and self-management The worldwide networking through the internet enables an increasingly efficient division of work: menial tasks are taken over by software systems, and the remaining work is done through crowdsourcing. Everyone does what they do best, whenever it suits them and wherever they happen to be. This offers many unprecedented freedoms, but it will also drive many people into forced self-employment. It is high time for our society to prepare for this. By Prof. Jutta Rump What will remain of our working world when even professional groups like doctors, teachers, and psychologists face competition from algorithms that can perform their work faster, more accurately, and more efficiently? The reassuring answer is: there will always be enough for us humans to do. Perhaps in the future, software programs will create more secure diagnoses than doctors and psychologists and more pedagogically sound curricula, but they will never be able to provide the interpersonal aspect. Even in other professions seemingly threatened by artificial intelligence, such as in the service sector, public transportation, or human resource management, humans will always be needed as a corrective. Our ability for abstraction, to recognize complex relationships, and our creativity cannot be replaced so quickly. We must prepare for the fact that numerous jobs may disappear and perhaps entire professions may become extinct. However, the work that remains will be more interesting. Additionally, demographic changes may have a balancing effect, as there will be fewer potential workers in the long run. Employees without obligations However, the increasing digitization of our working world brings about another, far more significant change. It can already be observed that companies are increasingly relying on freelance workers accessible via the internet. These workers are organized through platforms like Amazon's Mechanical Turk or oDesk. There, they can bid for individual projects in auctions. This crowdsourcing is very attractive for companies because they can hire workers whenever they need them. No commitments need to be made, and the reputation of potential workers can be assessed through reviews from previous clients. This model is likely to become more prevalent internationally. Global Challenge But where does workers' protection, labor law stand when we are only employed on a project basis? Often, working conditions in crowdsourcing are disastrous. Former employees are often involuntarily pushed into a freelance employment relationship as so-called cloud workers. As forced entrepreneurs, they perform the same tasks as before in the office, but under different conditions. Since they are now in direct competition with international competitors for each job, the pay is often lower. This is a problem for which a simple solution may not be quickly found. The development is happening in a global context and therefore requires a global response. Centralized rules, such as laws of individual states, may only help to a limited extent. Challenge for the Education System Thus, the initiative remains with the affected individuals themselves. They must organize themselves to advocate for their rights and create fair conditions. Additionally, they must optimize their self-management. Not everyone is a natural-born entrepreneur. A cloud worker must be able to assess what they can really achieve and what they should at least achieve: Which tasks are worth it? What needs to be done immediately, and what can wait? And when do I actually have time off? However, this self-competence is something that our education system does not adequately prepare us for - neither in schools nor at universities. Urgent action is needed in this area.