HOW TO USE AI WITHOUT BECOMING ITS EMPLOYEE
Most workplace AI training focuses on one thing: how to get more work done, faster. But who benefits from all that productivity?
The original Luddites weren’t afraid of technology. They were skilled workers who challenged technologies that reduced their autonomy, devalued their expertise, and concentrated power in the hands of employers. Today’s AI revolution raises many of the same questions.
In this hands-on workshop, participants will explore what the Luddites actually believed and why their ideas remain relevant in an age of algorithmic management, workplace surveillance and relentless optimisation. Through practical exercises and real workplace scenarios, you’ll learn to distinguish between AI that augments human judgement and creativity, and AI designed primarily to monitor, standardise or extract more labour.
Working directly with contemporary AI tools, participants will experiment with using AI to support research, creativity, critical thinking and decision-making rather than simply accelerating output. Together, we’ll examine common “efficiency” initiatives and forms of productivity theatre, identifying where new technologies genuinely empower workers and where they undermine expertise, autonomy and wellbeing.
By the end of the workshop, you’ll have developed a practical framework for deciding when and how to use AI, a clearer understanding of how technology reshapes power in the workplace, and the confidence and language to question the assumption that faster is always better.
What to bring:
A laptop
One workplace process that drives you mad
An example of AI you’ve been told will make your life easier
An open mind
A willingness to ask who benefits when we’re told to work faster
Location:
The Ethics Centre
Level 1, 161 Castlereagh St
Sydney, 2000
Sessions run for 120 mins and include afternoon tea.
Aubrey Blanche
Aubrey Blanche is, at heart, a deep thinker who refuses to believe that we cannot choose to build a world better than the one we’ve inherited. Her academic studies have always focused on understanding the causes of harm to the most vulnerable, and have included research on terrorism, defense contracting and military strategy, and the impact of AI applications on queer and disabled users. She spent more than 13 years in multinational technology companies advising on issues of organisational responsibility before joining The Ethics Centre as Director of Ethical Advisory & Strategic Partnerships. She is an advisor to global organisations seeking to scale in an ethical way, with an emphasis on equitable talent practices, justice-aligned ESG approaches, and responsible AI governance. She is a regular writer and speaker on issues of ethics in business, finance, and technology and a masters student in AI Ethics and Society at the University of Cambridge.
We acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation - the custodians of the country on which we meet - and acknowledge their Elders, past and present.
The views and opinions expressed by the Festival participants are not necessarily the views of The Ethics Centre and our partners.