Millions of people in the Philippines are doing the hidden work that makes artificial intelligence function, labeling images and text for AI companies, often for low pay and with little recourse when payments go wrong, according to a Washington Post report.
San Francisco-based startup Scale AI employs at least 10,000 people in the Philippines on a platform called Remotasks, according to the report. Data and interviews obtained by the Post indicate the company has often failed to pay workers on time. A Scale AI spokesperson told the Post that "delays or interruptions to payments are exceedingly rare."
Several Remotasks freelancers told the newspaper they were stiffed on payments or never received money they were initially promised. One 26-year-old worker spent three days on a project expecting $50 and received only $12.
Filipino AI ethicist Dominic Ligot described these workplaces, where workers label footage or text for AI companies like Scale AI, as "digital sweatshops." Workers also lack effective avenues to complain and can be "deactivated" if they raise their voices, according to the report.
The issue extends beyond the Philippines. Scale AI also employs freelancers or "taskers" in Venezuela and India, triggering a "race to the bottom," the owner of an outsourcing firm told the Post.
While AI has triggered a billion-dollar arms race in the U.S., those doing the brunt of the work are often unnoticed, underpaid, or ignored, the report says, a wrinkle in the AI ethics debate that has focused more on potential bias or the possibility of AI going rogue.
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