In April, the ESRC Centre for Digital Futures at Work (Digit) and Better Images of AI (BIoAI) launched a competition to reimagine the visual communication of how work is changing in the digital age.
We received over 70 images to the competition from illustrators, artists, researchers, graphic designers, and photographers from all around the world, including Brazil, Hong Kong, Lebanon, France, Uganda, Argentina, Peru, Ireland, the US and the UK. The submissions thoughtfully challenged the dominant stock imagery used to depict digital transformation at work by offering more nuanced, inclusive, and grounded visual representations.
Entrants submitted their images to reflect four themes: digital adoption, digital inclusion, changing employment contracts and working conditions, and digital dialogues. These were derived from the ‘Digital Dialogues’ report of Digit’s 5 year research programme which investigated ongoing impacts of digital transformation on people’s daily lives.
“Collectively, these images prompt us to think more deeply about the multifaceted impacts of the digital transformation of work. They offer us more thoughtful, nuanced and varied ways of seeing and imagining the changes already taking place. By making them freely available through the Better Images of AI library, we hope they will also play a small part in helping to shape the emergent digital work ecosystem, by helping to shape the wider conversation. It has been a great experimental vehicle to communicate the academic evidence from our research to the broadest audience. We hope this will ignite further discussions about these emerging trends”
– Professor Jacqueline O’Reilly, Co-Director of Digit
The BIoAI team conducted an initial short list of images for judges to score. The panel came together to discuss their scores and select a series of winners and runners-up that they thought best reflected the complexity, diversity, and real-world implications of digital transformation at work. The judging panel was composed of experts from creative, research, technical, and union backgrounds:
- Niels Bonde (digital artist and academic fellow)
- Bhumika Billa (legal academic and creative)
- Chanell Daniels (Responsible AI manager at Digital Catapult)
- Tania Duarte (Better Images of AI, Founder of We and AI)
- Rob Keery (CMO at Anything is Possible and Jagged Edge AI)
- Michael Luck (Deputy Vice-Chancellor at University of Sussex)
- Jacqueline O’Reilly (Co-Director of Digit)
- Maninder Paul (AI Strategist)
- Nick Scott (AI Director at Unions 21)
- Nina Wakeford (Professor of Art)
- Ben Wodeki (Technology Reporter)
As a result of the strength and number of competition entries, the judges awarded an additional ‘highly commended’ prize.
We would like to thank all the artists who entered the competition, including many who kindly donated their submissions to the Better Images of AI library. This means that a wider selection of over 20 images are available under a Creative Commons license for anyone to use for free with attribution.
“We have been overwhelmed to receive such a diverse range of submissions that provided rich interpretations of Digit’s research and illustrate really interesting aspects of digital transformation, that don’t make it into stock image libraries. A special thank you to the judges, Digit, and ESRC who have also supported and contributed invaluably to the competition. We look forward to seeing these new images being used by the Better Images of AI’ Image library’s users to illustrate news articles and comment related not only to digital transformation and the future of work, but also some of the broader questions they raise about the increasing use of AI in the workplace.”
– Tania Duarte, Founder of We and AI, for Better images of AI
The winners
GRAND PRIZE: Yutong Liu – “Digital Nomads: Across Time“
Yutong Liu & Digit / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
“Across time, the sun never sets. Exploitation? Oppression? Or convenience? A group of people work around the tower, hailing from different places and time zones. While they enjoy greater freedom in choosing their working hours, they also face the challenges of time differences. This is the precarious balance of digital nomadism.”
Download “Digital Nomads: Across Time” for free in the Better Images of AI library.
WINNER #1: Kathryn Conrad – “Isolation”
Kathryn Conrad & Digit / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
“The image is intended to represent independent data gig workers who work in isolation not only from the larger project with which they might be engaged (e.g., flagging graphic images for video platforms, tagging data for commercial AI systems or weapon systems) but also from other human workers (through distance, physical separation, or technological buffers like headphones).”
Download “Isolation” for free in the Better Images of AI library.
WINNER #2: Yutong Liu – “Digital Nomads: Digital-Based Connection”
Yutong Liu & Digit / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
“Thanks to advancements in digital technology, people can now work from various places, including those closer to nature, reflecting a shift in work environments. However, at the same time, birds resembling mouse cursors are causing chaos in the sky. Through this imagery, I highlight the challenges and unknown risks brought by such digital communities.”
Download “Digital Nomads: Digital-Based Connection” for free in the Better Images of AI library.
WINNER #3: Janet Turra – “Entry Level”
Janet Turra & Digit / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
“I wanted to illustrate how digital transformation can make it more difficult for young people to gain the skills required for entry level jobs. The goalposts being moved, as it were, as a result of AI adoption.”
Download “Entry Level” for free in the Better Images of AI library.
WINNER #4: IceMing – “Stochastic Parrots at Work”
IceMing & Digit / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
“The image illustrates the experimental integration of AI into human workplaces, drawing on the metaphor of “stochastic parrots” to represent generative AI tools. The glitchy AI parrots assist with analyzing, sorting, and sense-making tasks, but their presence is varied. Some AI are leashed, symbolizing attempts at control, while others respond to human commands more autonomously.”
Download “Stochastic Parrots at Work” for free in the Better Images of AI library.
The runners up
RUNNER UP #1: Leo Lau – ”Wheel of Progress”
‘Wheel of Progress’ by Leo Lau
“This image explores the paradox of digital transformation in the workplace. 1 or 2 knowledge workers, running inside a wheel embedded within a computer mouse, struggle to keep pace as a powerful hand (representing employers or capitalistic forces).”
RUNNER UP #2 (JOINT): Leo Lau – “Knowledge Sweatshop”
Leo Lau & Digit / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
“This image illustrates digital transformation gone wrong, where technology becomes a tool for intensified extraction. Instead of liberating labour, automation can lock workers into more exhausting cycles of output, without increasing agency or rewards.”
Download “Knowledge Sweatshop” for free in the Better Images of AI library.
RUNNER UP #2 (JOINT): Julieta Longo – ”Digitalisation and Moonlighting”
Julieta Longo & Digit / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
“The image represents both the possibilities and the risks of work digitalisation, particularly for mothers and people with caregiving responsibilities. Platform-based work and remote work are presented as activities that may help reconcile paid and unpaid labor, though this reconciliation often involves tensions.”
Download “Digitalisation and Moonlighting” for free in the Better Images of AI library.
RUNNER UP #3: Nadia Nadesan – ”We’re Sorry!”
‘We’re Sorry’ by Nadia Nadesan
“It evokes a time when mobile devices were tools of aspiration and accessibility, yet now symbolize obsolescence. The depicted phone represents both an entry point to digital life and a marker of technological disparity—while some communities have moved on to advanced smart devices and constant connectivity, others remain tethered to outdated tools.”
RUNNER UP #4: Jamillah Knowles – ”Bold Office”
Jamillah Knowles & Digit / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
“A brightly coloured office populated with all kinds of people working at connected desks. There are computer screens and networks in the air in clouds. The image shows the connectivity of a digitally transformed workplace.”
Download “Bold Office” for free in the Better Images of AI library.
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Reihaneh Golpayegani – ”Employment in Frames”
‘Employment in Frames’ by Reihaneh Golpayegani
“This image was intended to convey multiple concepts, the storyboard style was chosen to draw attention to changed working conditions—while also touching on socio-economic inequalities and workplace technology adoption. The blurring of work and personal life is emphasised in two separate illustrations as one of the most relatable implications of digital transformation.”
In the coming weeks, we’ll be posting a series of deep dives into the artwork and artists that entered our ‘Digital Dialogues Art Competition’. These posts will explore the ideas behind the entries, the creative processes involved, and the broader themes about digital transformation that we’ve seen emerge across the submissions.
We’ll also be sharing feedback from the judges and organisers, offering insight into how decisions were made and how the competition itself was designed, reflecting on the criteria and the reasons specific choices were made.
Cover image credits (left to right)
IceMing & Digit / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Janet Turra & Digit / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Julieta Longo & Digit / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Leo Lau & Digit / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Yutong Liu & Digit / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Kathryn Conrad & Digit / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
