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AI needs human hands. Indian workers fought back

In Delhi’s factories, labourers are resisting efforts to train their robot replacements on the most human of actions

AI needs human hands. Indian workers fought back
Graphic by James Battershill for openDemocracy
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HR staff claimed the tiny cameras affixed to each tailor’s head would mean prospective clients saw the quality of their products and placed more orders, resulting in pay rises for everyone at the garment factory on the outskirts of India’s capital. 

But the workers suspected the real reason was AI.

So Ankush Yadav, a young tailor, and his friends pried open the cameras, pulled out the memory cards and plugged them into their phones.