Research

The Chair conducts research on digital technologies in relation to work and everyday life. It is more specifically interested in examining:

• The transformations of boundaries between work and life, the public and private domain, and different finer-grained contexts.
• Individual and collective strategies and initiatives to regulate constant connectivity, online self-presentation, and privacy.

Current topics that the Chair works on or plans to work on in the near future are listed below. Scholars and students interested in digital regulation are encouraged to reach out and suggest collaborations on these or other relevant topics.

TOPICS

Remote and hybrid work

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced an abrupt shift to full-time remote work, followed by an on-going experimentation of hybrid work, which is a combination of in-office and remote work. Remote and hybrid work at that scale is still new and entails constant connectivity, image management, and privacy challenges for workers. Managers too, struggle with how to direct and evaluate remote workers and how to ensure equity between in-office and remote workers.

Employee electronic surveillance and algorithmic work

In a vast range of occupations and industries in North America and Europe, many workplaces make increasing use of technology such as GPS, trackers, wearable devices (e.g., fitbits), sensors placed under desks, web cameras, and keylogging and screen monitoring software, to monitor employees’ whereabouts and productivity. Such surveillance spills over the boundaries of work as it may also collect information on employees’ homes and lifestyles, family and social relationships, personal lives, and health. It may also entail inequalities between workers in different occupations and industries, qualifications, and socio-demographics, such as gender and age.

State surveillance of citizens

Surveillance is also prevalent at the state level as all governments collect data on citizens; however, the way these data are collected and the objectives of state surveillance differ across socio-political contexts. The Chair examines state surveillance in China where new forms of digital surveillance of citizens have been pioneered. China uses facial recognition cameras, algorithms, and Big Data architectures to aggregate different information on citizens that they collect offline and online (e.g., geolocation, social media posts, internet searches, electronic purchases of goods and services). Several state agencies, municipalities and private companies experiment with using these data to assess the “social credit” of citizens, with tangible consequences for citizens’ daily life and work prospects.

Imaginaries of AI and humanoid robots

Artificial intelligence is transforming how humans work and how they engage in relationships at work and in life. At work, humans may now work alongside physical robots; they may rely on generative AI to perform their work or be supervised by AI. In life, humans engage in intimate relationships with AI when it takes on the role of friend, romantic partner, pet, or therapist. For example, applications like Replica or Paradox are designed for romantic connections; robots like Paro provide companionship to elderly individuals; even ChatGPT may become a friend and mentor. The Chair investigates a range of emerging questions, such as: What motivates humans to seek these relationships? What characterizes their imaginaries of physical and virtual AI at work and in life? How do these imaginaries vary across different societal contexts?