7 Times AI Was Just Armies of Hidden Humans

In its 25-year history, Google has amassed fortunes and conquered the top tier of the web, thanks in no small part to the human staff who test and oversee the company’s many search and ranking algorithms, but the tech giants have the workers in charge of doing the work are often contractors who don’t have the same pay and protections as other full-time Googlers. These members of the company, after the Alphabetical Labor Unionare referred to as “ghost workers”.

Dozens of these reviewers requested the company in early February, claiming they earned poverty wages despite helping create some of Google’s most profitable products. In the petition, the reviewers claimed that she and her colleagues, who work exclusively for Google, did not receive health care, family leave, or paid time off.

“Since I started as a reviewer, we lost the opportunity to work full-time, were capped at 26 hours, and actually received a cut in our hourly pay,” Google reviewer Michelle Curtis said in a statement sent to Gizmodo. “That hasn’t stopped the growing demands placed on us – we’ve been asked to do more work at the same time and are increasingly exposed to violent and disturbing content.:

“Today I could work at Wendy’s and make more than I make at Google,” Curtis added.