This news really shouldn’t surprise anyone, despite the fact that most of us probably think AI is being created in labs by well-trained computer scientists.
Like most things in life, the brunt of the hard labor falls to the people willing to do it because they have to in order to scrape by.
Silicon Valley AI firms are outsourcing the grueling labor required to make the AI tech actually work, and like way too many of these situations, the waves and working conditions are far below standard.
These workers are being asked to label images that allow AI to understand the world, and to make sense of text to help chatbots less confusing.
In exchange, the workers are being severely underpaid and even exploited. They’re not being paid on time and sometimes being stiffed altogether, and one worker in the Philippines reported being paid $12 for a project where the promised wage was $50.
Filipino AI ethicist Dominic Ligot calls these workplaces “digital sweatshops.”
Since many of these people are labeled as “freelancers” or “taskers” around the world, they can be fired for complaining – or for any reason at all.
All while the Silicon Valley companies creating the concepts are raking in billions.
It’s a tale as old as time, but apparently, one that will not die until enough people stand up and say no thanks.
This is just one more thing in a long line of issues that should give a majority of people pause about the future of AI in society.