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Report

Ghost Workers in the AI Machine: U.S. Data Workers Speak Out About Big Tech’s Exploitation

Google recently reportedly fired hundreds of contractors working on AI products amid conflicts over pay and working conditions. These aren’t software engineers; they’re data workers, the people making AI more intelligent.

Data workers around the world collect and annotate data as well as train and evaluate AI models. African content moderators make social media platforms safer at great personal cost. Indian workers made Amazon Go stores actually go. But these stories only scratch the surface of the labor that underpins every part of the AI production process. 

These workers are distanced from the Big Tech companies producing popular AI products behind virtual marketplaces, layers of subcontractors, and complex supply chains that obscure the realities of their working conditions. Studies of data workers in the Global South have begun to fill gaps, and it doesn’t look good. According to research, data workers in the Global South face job insecurity, low wages, physical and psychological harm, and more. 

But what about U.S. data workers? Do they fare any better? Alphabet Workers Union, Communications Workers of America, and TechEquity teamed up to investigate the working conditions of U.S.-based data workers. 

Head to the Communications Workers of America website to find out what we learned.

View the paper

Key takeaways

As policymakers debate what guardrails need to be in place to govern this emerging technology, it is vital that they pay attention to the perspectives of data workers themselves, who are closest to the production of AI. 

Our research suggests that U.S.-based data workers face similar working conditions as data workers in the Global South, challenging our understanding of the global AI supply chain. 

  1. Workers struggle to make ends meet. Eighty-six percent of surveyed workers worry about meeting their financial responsibilities, and 25% of respondents rely on public assistance, primarily food assistance and Medicaid. Nearly two-thirds of respondents (66%) report spending at least three hours weekly sitting at their computers waiting for tasks to be available, and 26% report spending more than eight hours waiting for tasks. Only 30% of respondents reported that they are paid for the time when no tasks are available. Workers reported a median hourly wage of $15 and work a median workweek of 29 hours of paid time, which equates to annual earnings of $22,620. 
  2. Workers perform critical, skilled work but are increasingly hamstrung by lack of control over the work process, which results in lower work output and, in turn, higher-risk AI systems. More than half of the workers who are assigned an average estimated time (AET) to complete a task felt that AETs are often not long enough to complete the task accurately. 87% of respondents report they are regularly assigned tasks for which they are not adequately trained. 
  3. With limited or no access to mental health benefits, workers are unable to safeguard themselves even as they act as a first line of defense, protecting millions of people from harmful content and imperfect AI systems. Only 23% of surveyed workers are covered by health insurance from their employer. 
  4. Deeply involved in every aspect of building AI systems, workers recognize the wide range of risks that these systems pose to themselves and to society at large. Fifty-two percent of surveyed workers believe they are training AI to replace other workers’ jobs, and 36% believe they are training AI to replace their own jobs. 74% were concerned about AI’s contribution to the spread of disinformation, 54% concerned about surveillance, and 47% concerned about the use of AI to suppress free speech, among other issues.

Luckily, unions and advocacy organizations are also increasingly providing research-backed recommendations about what policies tech companies should implement in order to ensure that data workers are respected throughout their global supply chains.

Check out “Ghost Workers in the AI Machine: U.S. Data Workers Speak Out About Big Tech’s Exploitation” to learn more.

If you’re a data worker or have any information on the data work industry, please consider sharing your story and/or first-hand knowledge of data work companies. By sharing your experience, you can help lawmakers understand why they should support bills and regulations to protect everyday people.

Ghost Workers in the Machine

Go to CWA’s website for the full paper


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