Microtask workers train the AI systems that will replace them
Evidence
Turkers are freelance independent contractors who perform small tasks on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk platform, or MTurk, a crowd sourcing marketplace launched in 2005 where Requesters (businesses or individuals) can post tasks that computers can’t currently perform or that are cheaper for humans to do. Armies of Turkers can then earn small amounts of money (usually less than one cent per task) to perform the jobs, which might include doing things such as categorizing, sorting, testing, rating, generating content, or training artificial intelligence algorithms that will eventually make the human Turker redundant. — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 217
Categorization
- SEED: An essay angle: the irony of workers paid under a cent to train AI that makes their own labor redundant — a self-cannibalizing economy.
- FICTION: A short story could explore the Turker whose microtasks, aggregated against her knowledge, replace her entire occupation.
- XREF: connects to: Engaging with AI raises questions about human-machine boundaries. — Joanna Stern, I Am Not a Robot- My Year Using AI to…, 968; AI reduces job quality by devaluing human labor. — Emily M. Bender, Alex Hanna, The AI Con- How to Fight Big Tech’s…, 126; AI adoption is reducing the need for entry-level workers. — Joanna Stern, I Am Not a Robot- My Year Using AI to…, 858 (+7 more)
Broader Connections
- AI reduces job quality by devaluing human labor.
#corroborates(0.82) — Emily M. Bender, Alex Hanna, The AI Con- How to Fight Big Tech’s…, 126 - Generative AI threatened to devalue the very concept of labor
#corroborates(0.80) - AI adoption is reducing the need for entry-level workers.
#corroborates(0.78) — Joanna Stern, I Am Not a Robot- My Year Using AI to…, 858 - Engaging with AI raises questions about human-machine boundaries.
#expands(0.70) — Joanna Stern, I Am Not a Robot- My Year Using AI to…, 968