The AI + Planetary Justice Alliance joined researchers, organizers, and practitioners in Bengaluru for the Mapping Data Work workshop — a gathering that foregrounded the invisible labor behind AI systems. In our blog, we report key takeaways, reflect on what it means to build “ethical datasets,” question the assumptions behind datafication, and share insights from our own research on epistemic justice in agricultural AI in India. What if the push to represent is just another form of surveillance? And why are we building AI in the first place? Read the full piece to explore the planetary justice implications of some of AI’s quietest supply chains: data work.

AI is not inevitable, nor is it a given. As Kate Crawford reveals in Atlas of AI, behind the sleek interface of artificial intelligence lies a vast network of extraction—of minerals, of labor, of data, of meaning. From lithium mines in Nevada to e-waste dumps in the Global South, AI systems are materially grounded in deeply unequal infrastructures. They are not just powered by code, but by centuries-old ideologies of control, colonialism, and capitalism. This review explores the human and ecological toll of AI’s supply chain and urges a shift from the language of ethics to a critical interrogation of AI’s power.