Underage Workers Are Training AI

The global data labelling and collection industry, expected to grow to over $17.1 billion by 2030, is fueled by a worldwide rush into AI. Crowdsourcing platforms such as Toloka, Appen, Clickworker, Teemwork.AI, and OneForma connect millions of remote gig workers in the global south to tech companies in Silicon Valley. These workers are paid per task, ranging from a cent to a few dollars. Some of these workers are children who have joined platforms as minors, bypassing the checks. These platforms post micro-tasks from their tech clients, including Amazon, Microsoft Azure, Salesforce, Google, Nvidia, Boeing, and Adobe. Workers are predominantly based in East Africa, Venezuela, Pakistan, India, and the Philippines. Tasks range from simple image recognition to content moderation, where workers classify harmful content within data scraped from all corners of the internet.

Source: Wired