Modern Slavery? A.I.'s Exploitation of Kenyan Workers

The dark underbelly of artificial intelligence development comes to light in this eye-opening exploration of how our most sophisticated AI tools are made "safe" for public consumption. When OpenAI was training GPT-3, the predecessor to ChatGPT, they discovered their model regurgitated the worst parts of the internet—racism, violence, abuse, and more. Their solution? Outsource the cleanup to Kenyan workers earning less than $2 per hour.

Chapters

• 0:00 Podcast Introduction
• 0:51 OpenAI's Kenyan Content Moderators Exposed
• 2:10 Working Conditions and Mental Health
• 3:47 Africa's First Content Moderation Union
• 5:19 Closing Thoughts and Show Information

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Peace family. You're tuned into the sound of the only one mic podcast, mic drop, where we break down the day's biggest moves and culture and community through conversation that matters. All right, once again, I say peace to your family and I hope that you're feeling well and blessed today. I'm your host, carl Gerard, and I appreciate you locking in with me. Whether you've been following every episode, this is your first time tuning in. This is a space about truth, clarity and conversations that truly matter, and I'm not here to tell you what to think, folks. I'm just here to lay it out for you. All right, let's get into this y'all. The thing, folks, I'm just here to lay it out for you. All right, let's get into this y'all.

Speaker 1: 0:51

It's a story that might be new to some people and might not be to others, and I just wanted to pull the curtain back on it. It's a story that doesn't get enough spotlight, a story that reminds us that even the most powerful tech in the world is still built on the backs of people. I'm talking about a Time Magazine investigation into open AI. Yes, the folks behind ChatGPT. We all use it, we all love it I guess Some of us to some various degrees and it talks about how they outsourced the most traumatic, disturbing work to low paid workers in Kenya. You heard me that AI magic we all use. It was made safer by people who had to process some of the darkest parts of humanity for less than get this folks $2 an hour. So here's the breakdown.

Speaker 1: 1:41

Back when OpenAI was training its large language models like chat GP I'm sorry, like GP GPT-3, pardon me folks GPT-3, which that came before chat GPT they realized that the model could generate toxic content, racism, sexism, violence and, straight up, hateful stuff. And that's because it was trained on the internet, which we all know isn't exactly the cleanest source. So to clean it up, openai hired a third party company called Sama Sama, set up shop in Nairobi, kenya, and hired workers to do what they call data labeling. And that sounds simple, right, but these folks weren't laboring cat picture labeling like cat pictures, and they were. They were like reading graphic content and disturbing texts, and the AI would learn how to like filter it out.

Speaker 1: 2:34

One worker said he had to read descriptions of child abuse and murder daily, daily, and this was for a dollar and 32 cents an hour. Now, let that sink in for a minute, guys. Now here's where it gets even deeper. Open AI pays someone about $12.50 per hour, but the workers themselves, they receive less than two bucks of that, and this isn't like fast food work. This is psychologically damaging stuff, right? Workers reported having nightmares, flashbacks and mental breakdowns. I've seen one report where, you know, a man was saying like basically couldn't be intimate with his wife because of the stuff that he was looking at. It was real sad stuff. So SAMA claimed to offer mental health counseling, but most of it was in groups and I even seen in one report where they was like they told them like for mental health counseling counseling, they told them, go look at funny cat videos on the internet, which is crazy. When the workers asked for more one-on-one therapy, they were denied. Eventually, the contract was cut short in early 2022 and sama backed out open ai moved on and those workers you know many of them were just left in the dust right. So it doesn't end there.

Speaker 1: 3:45

From the pain came resistance. In Nairobi, more than 150 content moderators, including some from the chat gpt project, came together to form Africa's first content moderation union and that's a real thing. They've been calling, they've been calling on kenyan parliament, tech firms and even the us government to bring labor protections to the digital underworld, because that's what this is a digital underworld, the part of the internet no one wants to see unless you're being paid to clean it up. And this ain't just about open AI, it's about the global machine. The pattern is familiar Rich tech giants in the West, they outsource the dirtiest digital labor to continue in the global South for pennies, and it's always under the radar, right? But here's the thing, folks. Here's the thing. If these companies want to call themselves ethical or responsible AI leaders, then they got to take responsibility for the humans in the loop. This is about tech, yes, which is true, but it's also about labor. It's also about dignity and trauma and what we're willing to ignore just to make our lives a little more convenient. So let me know what you think about that. One in the comments, folks. So let me know what you think about that. One in the comments, folks. And also, the next time you're chatting with an AI, remember there's a human story buried, but it's also just human exploitation period.

Speaker 1: 5:30

Okay, the Only One Mike podcast is available on all major platforms you stream your podcasts on. So wherever you listen, that's where we are. Be sure to check out our YouTube channel to catch up on the past and current episodes and don't forget to rate the show and subscribe. Hit the subscribe button, folks. It really helps us out a lot, guys and I want to thank all of the uh new subscribers. Like I said before, the channel was starting to grow exponentially with a lot of um subscribers in the last few days and it helps more than you know. It helps more than you know and I helps more than you know and I truly appreciate it. Guys, you can connect with us on Instagram and X at the Only One Mike P1, facebook and LinkedIn at the Only One Mike Podcast. Email us at TheOnlyOneMike00 at gmailcom. Call or text us at 302-367-7219. Your voice, your questions, your take could be featured on the show. The only one. My podcast mic drops. Carl Gerard is out. Peace.