GIG
New technologies are rapidly transforming our economy, social structures and the way we work. Digital platforms like Uber and Deliveroo have given completely new meaning to concepts such as ‘work’ and ‘employment’.
In order to manage and control workers, while maximizing their own revenues, these companies use apps with invasive algorithms, derived from the extremely addictive mechanisms of the gaming industry. This form of gamification originates from the classical pigeon learning behaviour experiments, carried out by American psychologist B.F. Skinner in the first half of the last century.
We now live in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, creating a new generation of ‘working class entrepreneurs’, including taxi drivers who say they have to work 16 to 18 hours a day in order to make ends meet, driven by continuous ratings and ambiguous bonus policies. Welcome to the ‘gig economy’ with its magnificent illusion of freedom, autonomy and flexibility: do X get Y.
