Artificial intelligence and digital labour platforms – the nature of the relationship and its effects on human work

Purpose: The article aims to identify the relationships between artificial intelligence and digital labour platforms and how these relationships are potentially significant for human labour in the light of the labour reinstatement effect. Design/methodology/approach: The theoretical part drew on the reinstatement effect hypothesis, while the empirical part used Online Labour Observatory data. The analysis concerned the changes that occurred in the “clerical and data entry” category as the most strongly related to AI creation. Findings: The reinstatement effect hypothesis suggests that new technologies replacing human labour may be accompanied by an effect of increased labour demand that may arise in the area of these technologies. The examination of mutual links between AI and DLP revealed the emergence of new types of tasks, engaging “crowds of people”, that include algorithmically managed delivery of services in the field coordinated by DLP. It was found that the period of the recent rapid developments in AI, which required a radical rise in the number of AI-related parameters, was characterised by a dramatically increased demand for “clerical and data entry” services. This may point to a reinstatement effect as one possible relationship. Research limitations/implications: The main limitation of the study is the relatively short observation period and the fact that these phenomena are new and not yet well explored. They therefore require confirmation using more advanced methods. Further research should be focused on an in-depth assessment of the balance of demand growth and its possible decline in various groups of online platform services in subsequent phases of AI development. Social implications: The key implication of the identified effects is the reinstatement of labour demand as separate unstable jobs generated as a result of interaction between new technological solutions, AI and DLP. Originality/value: The likelihood of the reinstatement effect in the area of new technologies was demonstrated, but these new jobs tend to be relatively simple, or even partly physical. This constitutes an important contribution to the verification of the reinstatement effect hypothesis.