"The Venezuelan ghost workers who are feeding artificial intelligence", 24 June 2023

Seven years ago, the economic crisis in Venezuela forced Oskarina Fuentes to become an invisible artificial intelligence (AI) worker. Her role is to “tag” data, to improve the performance of online bots, all in exchange for the minimum amount of money required to survive...She makes mere pennies on the dollar through her Appen account.

Appen is an Australian virtual platform that compiles data for tech giants — such as Microsoft, Amazon and Google — to hone their AI systems. This is done with the help of contracted contributors from more than 170 countries, who register on the website and select the tasks they wish to perform...

...Behind the scenes of this multi-billion-dollar industry, Fuentes makes about $200 or $300 a month, close to the minimum wage in Colombia ($209). She lives in the neighboring country with her mother, after they migrated from Venezuela in 2019...Her earnings are the result of her work on Appen and other similar websites, such as Toloka, Hive Micro, Testable Minds and PAIDERA. The money she earns is barely enough to feed herself, her husband and their two children, who have no other source of income. “The work is enslaving and poorly-paid,” says another worker...

...When questioned about the treatment of their freelancers by EL PAÍS, representatives from Appen replied via email that they “deeply value their workers, because they represent the fabric of the societies where they operate,” but refrained from answering specific questions about the conditions of Venezuelans working on the platform...