Current and Future Configurations of Labor and Power for Ethics Workers in Tech

In examining the relationship between technological design and power in the workplace, no context is perhaps more important than the tech industry itself, whose products already impact almost all industries even before the current race to monetize AI. This paper explores labor and power in the context of recent changes in tech companies - specifically recent trends to create new jobs and structures that integrate ethical concerns into their tech development processes and products. Our data come from an NSF-sponsored project that collected a set of 30 semi-structured interviews with hiring managers who were looking to fill what we refer to as 'ethical tech' jobs (ethics related roles like ethical hacker or director of responsible AI), and 'tech critics,' a category that includes people who used to work in the tech industry and specifically in roles related to ethics or responsibility. Our analysis examines how configurations of organizational structures, culture, and leadership can limit the power of those working in roles relating to ethics. Our findings show workers are often limited in their ability to make meaningful assertions about product designs that might minimize unintended consequences and provide broader benefits for users because of their positionality–both in terms of identity and hierarchical location in the organization. Respondents illuminate how interdisciplinary education opportunities provide future ethical tech workers with transferable skills that might help them overcome challenges, while bringing a diversity and justice lens to R&D. We conclude by discussing policy implications for AI and tech work, as well as suggestions for educators to best prepare students for ethical tech positions.