3 ms·

> Sounds like the type of labor-intensive scheme that suits a developing economy. Much of this work does not suit any living human. https://www.ft.com/content

• worstspotgain 2y ago
  The FT link is paywalled, the other articles just echo the article at the top. There's a worker who apparently filed the equivalent of a wrongful termination suit in Kenya. There are many of those every day in the developed world too, and it may well be meritorious. He claims he was scarred by the content he had to look at, but Americans review objectionable social media content too (or at least used to.) Since these workers are not indentured serfs, we should generally rely on their ability to switch jobs. To me, this looks like some reporters hounding in on anything that smacks of big-bad-wolf AI. As for it being work that doesn't suit any living human, it seems a bit hyperbolic. Maybe you've been less exposed to reports of what life is like in the developing world than I have? Here's something that was on PBS the other day: https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/09/29/philippines-children-risk-death-dig-and-dive-gold https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/09/29/philippines-children-ris... Of course it's not a company in the developed world that commissions this, but everyone knows whose necklaces the gold is ending up in. I think we should avoid knee-jerk reactions against AI, which arguably has more potential to help the developing world than anything since electricity, and maybe look more into who benefits if AI is held back.
  • mikae1 2y ago
    > The FT link is paywalled https://archive.is/Q6ou7 https://archive.is/Q6ou7
  • 1vuio0pswjnm7 2y ago
    Works where archive.is is blocked: https://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?d=5059020920596126&w=O_9GpTfKmFf8k4Tyvdv2Winc3t-auWm2 https://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?d=5059020920596126&w=O_9GpTf...
  • mikae1 2y ago
    > He claims he was scarred by the content he had to look at, but Americans review objectionable social media content too (or at least used to.) I don't find it hard to believe that watching mutilations, rapes and and murders all day long will take its toll. It sounds like you do. American moderators have suffered too. https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/12/21255870/facebook-content-moderator-settlement-scola-ptsd-mental-health https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/12/21255870/facebook-content... > Since these workers are not indentured serfs, we should generally rely on their ability to switch jobs. So they can be replaced by those with fewer career choices? > Maybe you've been less exposed to reports of what life is like in the developing world than I have? Here's something that was on PBS the other day So because children are dying while mining for gold in the Philippines, we should be quiet about a traumatized AI workforce in Africa? I do not buy this reasoning. > I think we should avoid knee-jerk reactions against AI It's not just knee jerks though. I'd wager PSTD is real. The insane energy use is definitely real and the hallucinations are too real. The predictions for constant future improvements are however highly questionable. Critique where critique is due. The valley hype machine could possibly be racing towards the same cliff as it did with the metaverse and NFTs not long ago.
    • worstspotgain 2y ago
      > So they can be replaced by those with fewer career choices? By those less squeamish. > we should be quiet This is a strawman since that's not what I said. > traumatized AI workforce We only have data points on a few plaintiffs and plaintiff-adjacent workers, hardly enough to assume they're necessarily more than a drop in the workforce bucket. Here's a show full of shittier US jobs like noodling: https://go.discovery.com/show/dirty-jobs-discovery-atve-us https://go.discovery.com/show/dirty-jobs-discovery-atve-us > hallucinations are too real > metaverse and NFTs It sounds like you have an axe to grind with the Valley and tech in general.