The AI boom runs on invisible labor, writes Krystal Kauffman, a research fellow with the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR). Underpaid workers in Kenya, the US, and beyond are unknowingly training intelligence systems. This isn't just an ethics problem—it's a consent problem, she says.

another year of us not running a super bowl ad

According to an organizer, “all signatories are full-time employees, and nearly 30% are Google Cloud workers.”

New Inquiry!!! Have you ever found yourself trying to explain an issue to a chatbot, only to wish you could speak to a human? What if I told you the chatbot you were talking to was actually a human pretending to be a chatbot? Read Clara and B's short comic art the link below 👇

To hopefully do justice to this issue, we're bringing together @dairinstitute.bsky.social's @milamiceli.bsky.social & @krystalkauffman.bsky.social with @mophatokinyi.bsky.social & Richard Mathenge, cofounders of the Techworker Community Africa and former content moderators. We hope you'll join us!

🚨 NEW INQUIRY!! A Brazilian former TikTok moderator, pseudonymized as Lúcio, analyzes the systems designed to extract ever-growing productivity from content moderators and how they operate to harm workers. Download and read the report at data-workers.org/lucio/

@alixdunn.com and @valerieveatch.bsky.social will chat through questions of AI power with @shengokai.blacksky.app, @krystalkauffman.bsky.social, @milamiceli.bsky.social, @mophatokinyi.bsky.social, @drtanksley.bsky.social, Thema Monroe-White, and Richard Mathenge. Anyone can tune in online!

📣New paper! Thrilled to share the methodological recipe for @dataworkersinquiry.bsky.social in this article co-authored with @adiod.bsky.social @krystalkauffman.bsky.social Camilla Salim Wagner, Laurenz Sachenbacher @alexhanna.bsky.social & @timnitgebru.bsky.social 👉 ojs.aaai.org/index.php/AI...

TikTok management wants to lay off over 160 workers in Berlin as easily and cheaply as possible. After the first meeting of the conciliation committee, employees could be DISMISSED IMMEDIATELY. www.heise.de/en/news/Berl...

Over the past months, I had the privilege to be part of a great team of scholars, practitioners, and data workers who developed ethical principles for academic data work requesters. These principles have now been published @weizenbauminstitut.bsky.social: www.weizenbaum-institut.de/publikatione...

🚨NEW INQUIRY! @joan1k.bsky.social from @datalabelers.bsky.social discusses beginnings, gratitude, and partnerships in this piece. @dataworkersinquiry.bsky.social is an active partner of the DLA, and we remain united in the fight for the rights of data workers worldwide! data-workers.org/DLA/

New Inquiry!!

Caught up this week with @krystalkauffman.bsky.social and @adiod.bsky.social to plot what’s next for @dataworkersinquiry.bsky.social: new inquiries, new events, and some big ideas in the works. More soon!

New Inquiry is live! Our co-researchers have identified the problems in data work. Now it is time to create solutions. Read on below!

Live right now!!

🚨New Inquiry!! Today, we present Kauna’s mental healthcare proposal tailored specifically to data workers - addressing PTSD, burnout, depression, and more. Her plan delivers a way forward for those affected and a call for change. data-workers.org/kauna/ #MentalHealthInTech #DataWorkersInquiry

🔇🔇🔇Join us for an honest conversation with some of the people forging a better digital future. Event will be recorded for those who can't make it. ⏰ Thursday May 30th at 10am PDT/1pm EDT ➡️ Register at www.eventbrite.com/e/imagining-... More info on our amazing speakers below🧵

Follow the Data Labelers Association here 👉 @datalabelers.bsky.social

Visit www.data-workers.org to view Sakine's contribution to the Data Workers' Inquiry. While you're there, check out the whole repository!

Wilington Shitawa is a former data worker and quality analyst who has worked at Cloud Factory and Sama in Nairobi, Kenya. Drawing from his personal experiences and interviews with fellow workers Andrea, Derrick, and Edwin, he created the comic „Click Captives: The Unseen Struggle of Data Workers“.

“Safe data work demands better pay, better working conditions, and a safe, supportive environment that helps workers deal with the emotional toll of the job.” Fasica Berhane Gebrekidan, data worker and DWI community researcher

In her report “If I Had Another Job, I Would Not Accept Data Annotation Tasks,” Roukaya al-Hammada highlights the precarious working conditions of Syrian refugees in Lebanon involved in data annotation.

In “The Impact of Gift Card Payments on MTurk Workers”, Alexis Chávez reveals how many MTurk workers —depending on where they live— are only paid in Amazon gift cards deposited into their Amazon.com balance.

Today I'm announcing my departure from Turkopticon, where I've been the lead organizer for the last few years. I'll be dedicating my time to research and advocacy with DAIR, pushing boundaries in ways that are personally and professionally fulfilling. Thanks to all who have supported me!

Happy to join @gleemie.bsky.social on this list! I see a lot of brilliant women here - congrats to all! womeninaiethics.org/the-list/of-...

"Generative AI will always need humans"...says @krystalkauffman.bsky.social. Dylan Baker agrees: “It’s a well-crafted marketing strategy on the part of the platforms to claim that one day AI will no longer need humans.” voxeurop.eu/en/artificia...

NEW — OMB temporarily pauses all agency grants and loans programs. Per copy of memo: "The use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve."

Put this on your calendar - We're looking forward to seeing you on Feb 13!

I'm in an Uber (I know, but there was no other option) and I see this in the door. Not only is this my first ever female driver, but I've never seen this in cars driven by men.

Thank you, @sklovig.bsky.social, for sharing this piece again. I stand by what I said now more than ever!

We're hoping to organize a hopeful virtual event to get us to think our possible technological futures, and have a creative workshop. Stay tuned. In the mean time, read our Possible Futures Series. If you have thoughts on what you'd like to see from the event, comment below.

Facebook is censoring 404 Media stories about Facebook's censorship 🔗 www.404media.co/facebook-is-...

Wonderful interview with Dr. Milagros Miceli! morningexpress.in/milagros-mic...

Waymo? More like Way-NO www.instagram.com/reel/DEhgF7y...

On this International Day of Migrants, I dream of a future where we use technology to heal wounds instead of creating new ones. A future where we use our advancements to address one of the most heart-wrenching aspects of forced displacement. www.dair-institute.org/blog/eritrea...

Please read more about stories like the one below here: www.data-workers.org www.theguardian.com/media/2024/d...

Sign up here: blog.turkopticon.net?page_id=653

Pre-order alert, cover, and website reveal for our book, THE AI CON! (with @emilymbender.bsky.social) It's out for release on May 13, 2025! thecon.ai

Our original campaign and a fight we will never give up on, mass rejections. Read our latest newsletter article delving a little into our battle with Amazon. blog.turkopticon.net?p=3845

Looking forward to seeing data workers on 12/17!

We'll still be busting AI hype as we wind down in December. Join @alexhanna.bsky.social & @emilymbender.bsky.social in the next iteration of Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 this Monday December 9 at 12pm pacific. Live Stream: www.twitch.tv/dair_institute Past Episodes: www.dair-institute.org/maiht3k/

Signal is famous for knowing as little about its users as possible. The app isn’t hoarding metadata, tracking you, or showing you ads. President @meredithmeredith.bsky.social sees a shift underway as the monoliths of big tech lose popularity and the old economics of Silicon Valley become brittle.

Turkopticon was honored to be referenced and represented in EU Parliament, we encourage data workers to watch the recording at the link below and see how organizations are pushing for protections through policy. diplab.eu/data-workers...

Amazons workers across 20 countries, including the United States, are striking against what the organizing labor union calls anti-worker and anti-democratic practices.

We represent data workers and the mistreatment they get working on the platforms that make your tech work. We are always happy to speak at conferences and in spaces where people are willing to listen to our battles. The Color of Surveillance was a recent conference we were excited to participate in.

"A pesar de que trabajamos para estas grandes empresas, somos la mano de obra barata y descartable para ellos": Oskarina Fuentes frente al Parlamento Europeo junto a @milamiceli.bsky.social hablando sobre la extrema precariedad de los trabajadores de datos de la industria de la IA 📢 #dataworkers

I've found my way back here! Good to see so many friends.

This project is amazing! Stay tuned!

Excellent piece by Billy Perrigo and contributors. #NoTechForApartheid #EndProjectNimbus time.com/6964364/excl...