'Overlooked' data workers who train AI speak out about harsh conditions

AI has reshaped everything from medical diagnoses, to wedding vows, to stock market gains, but the technology wouldn’t be possible without gig workers across the globe.

However, analysts and advocates said the workers whose efforts help train AI are often denied knowledge of the end product they help create, or the company behind it. They also risk rejection of their work after it has been completed, which can leave them without pay or recourse to collect it.

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[Darhan]

The irony is that emerging AI technology is intended to automate the repetitive and boring tasks that human beings currently have to do, yet human beings are forced (by their financial situations and limited options) to do repetitive and boring tasks in order to develop said AI technology. I'm all for deploying new technologies as soon as possible, taking into account safety considerations, privacy concerns, etc... I'm also for making sure that gig workers are treated fairly and not exploited like factory workers were in years past, and to some degree still are. I'm no Luddite, by any means. I believe in the ability of new technologies to help us reduce scarcity and suffering. But if we don't care enough to address the ethical and regulatory issues now, there's no guarantee we'll care enough to do it later. We can't wait for AI to cross some arbitrary threshold in order to address concerns about how workers are treated. Good faith and good will has to be there at all stages of the process, as we boldly attempt to level up human civilization for everyone's benefit.

[Zero_ss]

This is how our economic system works, everything is running on the backs of the poor who are doing all of the work.

[patrickowens]

“Doing menial, repetitive tasks on your laptop isn’t enjoyable”

I didn’t know that. You’re telling me now for the first time.

[MCLottotv]

You're pretty much training your own job replacement

[reecom]

The term computer dates back 1613 which refers to people performing complex calculations such as mathematicians and bookkeepers. In the book and movie “Hidden Figures” three black women mathematicians working at NASA were used to generate complex calculation databases without being told what the database was to be used for since they didn’t the security clearance; history repeating itself with AI database!

[botmsj]

This video is mostly a plug for an Amazon service.

[coolrip]

Wow they got scammed by an AI company! lost wages hurts the families. I hope they can find out why and get paid by bring them to the Courts.

[Iquey]

There's companies... Like Telus, which have a lot of AI rater jobs. I've done some fun gigs with them at an in person venue to train cameras/sensors on robots with facial expressions, but i haven't given the online remote jobs a try yet, and I'm not sure if i should. I think it could be good for my resume to show experience in this field at least at the very bottom level, but it is strange work for sure. The context of the jobs is secretive because it is probably R&D from big companies that don't want to give away the surprise of their new projects.

[sedawk]

There are literally millions of jobs like this. Do you think the person cleaning toilets at ABC’s head office at 2 am has a meaningful career? Why aren’t you doing a story about them? And the lady half way through the video says she picks the work she finds enjoyable and that pays the most. This literally is not an option for tens of millions in the US.

[donnah]

I tried Mechanical Turk. It was poor pay. Good to know she did well with it.

[nikita_kozlov]

When you get a job that requires basically no special skills or experience why would you expect it to be a good job? You’re gonna have to take it up with Adam Smith.

This video singles out these people as being exploited. In fact, they are privileged enough to be able to have a computer, an internet connection, speak English, and live in a place that is safe with necessities readily available.

[JasonB]

This is only one lady’s experience. Amazon Mechanical Turks is not employment. It’s the equivalent of doing paid online surveys. The fact the lady was able to work from home while she was sick means the tasks actually paid pretty good. Not sure why People don’t get that gig work means you are not an employee. You work for yourself. You get set what time you work, how long you work, and you can take any time off working you want. Of course it doesn’t offer improvement for the worker. Doing menial tasks that anyone can do isn’t going to help you find a high paying career or improve your current career. This is to get paid for doing simple but tedious tasks. It pays accordingly. Gig work is not for everyone. Some people can make a living off of it. But for most it is a side hustle for extra money. It’s way better than working two jobs. It’s easier to accommodate your real job, and still have some work, life balance.

What would the lady be doing for money had AMT didn’t exist?

[cymeriandesigns]

The good news is that AI will ultimately replace these workers and they'll never be exploited again. They're training their successors.

[joyofnft]

This “news” piece is really confusing. YouTube videos say AWS Turks pays peanuts. It doesn’t even seem worth the time for a person in a 1st world nation.

[Thunder_Dome]

Turk is cool, if you want a $1 an hour.

[HowShouldIKnow]

Sociopath tech bro overlords?
Anyone tired of this yet?

[PaulADAigle]

The companies that want data should supply glasses with dual cameras (for 3D) to people. When they upload the data from the glasses to the companies, they should then pay people for the time they were recording their activities. Supplying everything needed would make it so poor people could have an income no matter who and where they are. It would also be nice to have some 'deny recording in this area' devices. This would benefit everyone.

[nick]

If you don’t like the task then don’t accept it.

[TTTrouble]

Yeah not really understanding how this isn’t just a critique of the foundational principles of capitalism. You think CEO pay should 10000x the janitors salary? I’m not a fan of whataboutism in general but this particular criticism seems bizarre. People sign up for an opportunity they wouldn’t have otherwise had at an agreed upon rate of pay and in general with the exception of limited scenarios get paid per the stipulated contract and are now complaining that…what exactly? The stuff they were doing makes more money than they thought it would be? Like you’re okay with the job as long as the person asking for you to do it is only getting whatever value you think they should get?

Honestly this video made very little sense to me, and garners very little sympathy outside of those that were not paid for the work they did—and the monolithic nature of the system denying the ability to dispute edge cases

[ryanlindner]

This report makes no sense? Its an online job that pays $1 to $11 an hour. It is not meant for people in the U.S. There are many other options for online work. Its like saying to clean house people are getting paid only $15 dollars.. Yes in other parts of the world that is true. and other parts of the world they are paid $1 dollar to clean a house.