The invisible labor of thousands of people behind the facade of technological wonder

Post Thumbnail

When we communicate with ChatGPT or other neural networks, it seems to us that we are facing pure technology. Algorithms and mathematics. But no. Every day 100000 people in different countries around the world label data for training neural networks. They mark objects in photos, check texts for toxicity, filter unwanted content. And evaluate the quality of artificial intelligence responses. They are called “artificial intelligence migrants,” and most of them live in low-income countries. Kenya, India, the Philippines, and Pakistan. It seems we have invented a technological wonder that works on good old human labor. Only now also with the fashionable name “artificial intelligence.”

Their working conditions often leave much to be desired. According to an investigation by Time magazine, OpenAI through contractor Sama hired Kenyan workers to filter toxic content while training ChatGPT. They were paid from 1.32 to 2 dollars per hour, and their task was to view and label the most difficult content, including scenes of violence and cruelty. Amazing generosity from a company valued at 10000000000. These Kenyan workers must feel like real participants in the technological revolution.

But large technology companies don’t particularly advertise this side of their work. It’s more profitable for them to maintain the myth of self-learning algorithms than to talk about 100000 people who do routine work for pennies.

On platforms like Amazon Mechanical Turk, people perform micro-tasks for small rewards. The pay is often below minimum wage, and working conditions are far from ideal. So next time when you are impressed by the accuracy of a neural network’s response, remember: behind this “magic” is the labor of many people whose contribution often remains unnoticed and undervalued.

AIvengo > Reviews > The invisible labor of thousands of people behind the facade of technological wonder
Почитать из последнего
UBTech will send Walker S2 robots to serve on China's border for $37 million
Chinese company UBTech won a contract for $37 million. And will send humanoid robots Walker S2 to serve on China's border with Vietnam. South China Morning Post reports that the robots will interact with tourists and staff, perform logistics operations, inspect cargo and patrol the area. And characteristically — they can independently change their battery.
Anthropic accidentally revealed an internal document about Claude's "soul"
Anthropic accidentally revealed the "soul" of artificial intelligence to a user. And this is not a metaphor. This is a quite specific internal document.
Jensen Huang ordered Nvidia employees to use AI everywhere
Jensen Huang announced total mobilization under the banner of artificial intelligence inside Nvidia. And this is no longer a recommendation. This is a requirement.
AI chatbots generate content that exacerbates eating disorders
A joint study by Stanford University and the Center for Democracy and Technology showed a disturbing picture. Chatbots with artificial intelligence pose a serious risk to people with eating disorders. Scientists warn that neural networks hand out harmful advice about diets. They suggest ways to hide the disorder and generate "inspiring weight loss content" that worsens the problem.
OpenAGI released the Lux model that overtakes Google and OpenAI
Startup OpenAGI released the Lux model for computer control and claims this is a breakthrough. According to benchmarks, the model overtakes analogues from Google, OpenAI and Anthropic by a whole generation. Moreover, it works faster. About 1 second per step instead of 3 seconds for competitors. And 10 times cheaper in cost per processing 1 token.