Can AI really do everything by itself? AI has impressed a lot of people with its output. But even though it’s sold as an autonomous, inhuman tool, there’s a lot of human work that goes into it. While that work does happen in the US, many AI laborers also live overseas – and get paid less to do it. Everything that goes into making AI function – from the data it feeds on to the labor that trains it – smacks of colonialism, according to some scholars and researchers. This has led to the emergence of the term "data colonialism." Is this comparison a fitting one, and what are the broader implications of data colonialism for society at large? Brittany gets into it with <a href="https://www.reginecabato.ph/"target="_blank" >Regine Cabato</a>, a freelance journalist based in the Philippines who’s written about AI laborers there for <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/08/28/scale-ai-remotasks-philippines-artificial-intelligence/"target="_blank" >The Washington Post</a>, and <a href="https://ulisesmejias.com/"target="_blank" >Ulises Mejias</a>, professor at SUNY Oswego and co-author of the book Data Grab the New Colonialism of Big Tech and How to Fight Back. For more episodes about AI and modern life, check out:<a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/04/13/nx-s1-5780867/you-might-be-suffering-from-ai-brain-fry"target="_blank" >You might be suffering from AI brain fry</a><a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/04/06/nx-s1-5773103/me-and-my-partner-dont-see-eye-to-eye-about-ai-now-what"target="_blank" >Me and my partner don't see eye-to-eye about AI. Now what?</a><a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/03/27/nx-s1-5762979/the-hard-work-of-having-good-taste"target="_blank" >The hard work of having "good taste"</a> Support Public Media.<a href="https://plus.npr.org/"target="_blank" > Join NPR Plus.</a> Follow Brittany on Instagram:<a href="https://www.instagram.com/bmluse/?hl=en"target="_blank" > @bmluse</a> For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at<a href="http://npr.org/podclub"target="_blank" > npr.org/podclub</a>. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. <a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

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