Story Forum Event: Tackling the Ethics of AI Through the Making of GHOST IN THE MACHINE: Part 2

Krystal is a data worker and research fellow with DAIR, focused on the human labor that underpins AI systems and the ethical questions that surround them. Her work examines the often-invisible individuals who power the AI supply chain - data annotators, content moderators, and other platform-based workers - and the broader systems that shape their working conditions.

Before entering the research space, Krystal spent a decade working on political and issue campaigns as a community organizer, driven by a commitment to equity and systemic change. Her training in geology helps her approach the AI ecosystem as a layered, interconnected system, one where human labor is often buried or overlooked. 

Richard Mathenge is a former team lead in one of the well known AI organizations in Kenya. He is credited in fighting for the rights and better working conditions for Tech workers and content moderators through better regulations, workable mechanisms and policy framework.

Richard is also one of the founders of the African Content Moderators Union, founded on the 1st of May 2023 and also a global AI policy maker working with Partnership on AI, an organization dedicated towards formulating AI policies and mechanisms.

Amongst the accolades Richard is decorated with include‌ TIME Top 100 most influential people in AI‌ Top 100 Kenyans 2023

Through his agitation and clamor for better working conditions and human treatment in the AI world, Richard has received a number of invitations globally to inspire the international community. Richard doubles up as the co-founder of a non-profit Techworker Community Africa as well as the Admin of the African Content Moderators Union, both centered in Nairobi.

Dr. Milagros Miceli is a leading researcher and critical voice in the field of artificial intelligence. She currently serves as Research Lead at the Distributed AI Research (DAIR) Institute, Director of the Data, Algorithmic Systems, and Ethics research group at the Weizenbaum Institute, and lecturer at the Technical University of Berlin. Her research focuses on the social, political, and ethical dimensions of AI, with particular attention to the invisible labor and power asymmetries embedded in the creation of machine learning datasets.

Dr. Miceli is the Principal Investigator of the research project Data Workers’ Inquiry, an innovative initiative that empowers data workers to conduct worker-led research on their own labor conditions. Through this project, she explores how global data supply chains shape the production of “ground truth” data and how inequalities in outsourced data work impact algorithmic outcomes. The project has received major international recognition for its methodology and for bringing visibility to the human labor sustaining the AI industry.

Dr. Miceli’s academic background spans multiple disciplines. She earned her PhD in Computer Science (summa cum laude) from the Technical University of Berlin. She also holds a Master’s degree in Sociology from Humboldt University of Berlin and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of the Arts, Berlin. Earlier in her career, she studied Sociology and Communication Science at the University of Buenos Aires.

Dr. Miceli’s scholarly contributions combine Critical Data Studies, Sociology of Technology, Labor Sociology, and Human-Computer Interaction, bridging technical and social research traditions. She has authored multiple award-winning papers. Her leadership has attracted significant research funding from institutions including the Ford Foundation, European Parliament, and Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

Her influence extends beyond academia: Dr. Miceli’s work has informed policy in Europe and beyond, and she is often consulted and invited to testify in parliamentary discussions. She was named among TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in AI (2025) and 100 Brilliant Minds of Berlin, recognizing her as a pioneer in advancing ethical, worker-centered perspectives on AI.

Mophat Okinyi is an AI and human rights activist, labor organizer, and former content moderator based in Kenya. He is the Founder and CEO of Techworker Community Africa and a leading voice organizing data and platform workers across the Global South. Mophat is one of the Kenyan workers who helped train large language models, including ChatGPT, to reduce harmful and toxic content, giving him firsthand insight into the hidden human labor behind AI. 

Drawing from lived experience inside global AI supply chains, his work exposes exploitative outsourcing, racialized labor hierarchies, and the psychological harm faced by content moderators and data labellers. He bridges grassroots organizing, policy advocacy, and global research collaborations to push for worker-centered AI governance and labor rights. Mophat was recognized by TIME100 AI for his impact on the future of artificial intelligence.

Hailing from London by way of New York by way of Seattle, Valere Veatch is an acclaimed independent documentary filmmaker. Veatch is a writer, director, and producer of documentaries "Me @ The Zoo" (HBO), "Love Child" (HBO). Veatch is a graduate of the New School for Social Research with a degree in Culture and Media Studies. Her award-winning work deals with the intersection of technology and society.