It's not all just math. Real people are what make this work.
[1] https://www.theverge.com/features/23764584/ai-artificial-int...
So, common ground with a lot of Hacker News audience?
Don't take me too seriously here, and not to excuse anything but what would these people be doing if they weren't data labeling? How would they be treated differently?
Presumably, they'd be working for some other multinational, because overall their quality of living is better than working at whatever other local industry exists?
The data labeling job itself strikes me as something dystopian. As if we're the work mules for our AI overlords.
That was not my intent. I probably worded my thoughts poorly. Indeed, though I am far more advantaged than those data laborers I’m feeling a bit exploited myself lately.
> Are you suggesting that if something is common across the globe then we shouldn't complain about it?
No. I guess the crux of my comment is what would they be doing for income otherwise? And which would they choose, given the fact they’re being exploited.
"I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops"
I think you are giving too much credit to billion dollar companies that really just want to milk as much labor from poor countries as they can.
Just like a college student working at McDs to get by, the same could apply here. Cost of living is not equal.
I'm not siding with either of you to be clear, just a different perspective. I feel both points are valid and without more information both are also irrefutable
It doesn't follow that because I said you can find people without important work in low-GDP countries, that there is no important work there. If you've ever been in one though, there are always people whose job seems to be "watching a single goat" and would be much better off training AIs to identify cats.