Former Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar (left) with Digital Empowerment Foundation Founder & Director Usama Manzar on Digital Citizenship & Platform Accountability during the 7th Digital Citizen Summit, at T-Hub, Hyderabad on Friday. | Photo credit: NAGARA GOPAL
A workshop entitled “Let’s Build Our Commons AI: Public and Fair”, held at the 7th Digital Citizen Summit at T-Hub, explored how AI is reshaping work, governance and public life and argued for AI to be seen as a shared public resource rather than a private monopoly.
The session was organized by Commons Collective and moderated by digital journalist Roshna Arafa Ali. It also had researcher Gaya Hadiya, Siddharth Malempati, the board’s CEO, and Rajasekhar as moderators.
Speakers said the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence into the professional, political and personal space has clashed with long-standing workplace systems that were already directed against employees. Roshna argued that job losses blamed on AI were often the result of employers using the technology as a convenient justification for hiring fewer people, cutting costs and avoiding providing benefits.
“Mid-level roles such as database administrators, IT specialists and data analysts were among those most vulnerable to AI-driven restructuring,” she said, adding that the workplace was far from ideal even before the advent of AI.
“Many industries have long normalized unhealthy competition, overwork, and an unwillingness to collectively demand safer conditions. In this context, AI has become an attractive tool for companies looking to replace work that requires rest and rights with machines that require neither.” This tension, she noted, is already pushing women and marginalized communities further away from formal employment.
The workshop also highlighted the hidden work that keeps AI systems running, from large-scale data extraction that occurs without real consent to poorly paid content tagging and maintenance. Gaya Hadiya described it as a form of undervalued and often invisible labor that sustains technology while benefiting only a small group of company owners.
A Commons Collective panel moderated by digital journalist Roshna Arafa Ali, researcher Gaya Hadiya, Siddhartha Malempati, director general of the Commons Collective, and moderated by Rajasekhar. | Photo credit: Naveen Kumar
The discussion shifted to emerging ethical issues, including companies exploring the use of artificial intelligence as workplace advisors or students. Panelists questioned whether an employer-funded artificial intelligence would ever advise an employee to face a rework, form a collective or demand better conditions. “Instead, such systems can simply get individuals to cope better so that productivity remains uninterrupted,” Rajashekar said.
“Human intelligence is relational, emotional and based on lived experience and cannot be reduced to pattern predictions,” he said.
The session also addressed issues of governance and accountability. “These resources are inherently public and should not be closed off by private entities. The administration must determine who determines the purpose and limits of AI systems and who should be held accountable when those systems cause harm,” he added.
The workshop concluded with a call for wider public involvement in AI governance. Speakers said discussions of ethics and regulation cannot remain limited to engineers or industry professionals, as the implications of AI extend far beyond the technology sector. They called for collective participation and transparent rulemaking to ensure that AI serves society as a whole, not just those who control its infrastructure.
Published – 14 Nov 2025 20:47 IST
