Artificial intelligence is often celebrated as the future of work. It is efficient, innovative and neutral. Yet, for many women in Indonesia’s gig economy, AI feels like a source of mounting pressure.
In my recent research on female gig workers in Indonesia, I examine what I call AI colonialism. This term describes how colonial influence persists today through technology and digital systems that maintain control.
This concept captures how powerful actors use AI – often based in the Global North – to exploit workers in the Global South. Much like historical colonialism, this digital iteration relies on the extraction of data, labour and resources to cement unequal power relations.
