It Is Hard To Believe There Is Not A Serious Lesson Here….

This appeared last week:

Google’s termination of Appen contracts big ‘wake up call’ for tech workers, Alphabet Workers Union warns

By Joseph Lam

Reporter

11:34AM January 26, 2024

Appen’s multimillion-dollar contract loss should be “a wake-up call for workers” as artificial intelligence is increasingly eating into the roles of some of the tech industry’s most vulnerable, a major union has warned.

The ASX-listed data processing company “had no prior knowledge” that Google would abruptly dump its contracts over the weekend, which were responsible for $US82.8m ($125m) in revenue in 2023.

The Alphabet Workers Union has warned the decision will have a “devastating impact” including some lay-offs on at least 2000 contracted Alphabet workers across the US and Canada who had worked on Google’s Bard AI product and search engine through Appen.

The company’s global contractor base, including workers who providing ratings on Google products including YouTube, expands much further across over 170 countries.

The AWU described Google contractors as a “canary in the AI coal mine” who are often “stuck between large language models and their users”.

‍“This news should be a wake-up call for workers in the tech industry and anyone concerned about the impacts of AI on working people,” said Toni Allen, AWU executive board secretary. “As subcontractors for Google we have been a canary in the AI coal mine calling out the precarious labour conditions we face being the human workers standing between large language models and their end users.”

Appen told investors on Monday it was completely in the dark on Google’s move, and that it would “immediately adjust its strategic priorities following the notification of the Google contract termination and provide further details in its FY23 full year results on 27 February 2024”.

Ms Allen said the situation was a symptom of how tech industry workers were being treated across the board in the wake of the mass adoption and integration of AI.

“This is what AI work looks like when workers have no say in the process. It is time that the world heard our voices before this situation repeats itself far and wide,” she said.

More here:

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/googles-termination-of-appen-contracts-big-wake-up-call-for-tech-workers-alphabet-workers-union-warns/news-story/1536a7e274d09d259c631f583d858646

Reading between the lines this really seems to be an example of an AI being developed to repace a manual rating system with obvious cost savings and human pain!

“The thin end of the wedge” is the description that comes to mind as well as the “canary in the coal mine” allusion!

Others have suggested that about 40% of present workforces may be vulnerable to this sort of change, and I sadly have to say that feels to be no exaggeration to me! 

This is a serious harbinger of things to come to me!

What do others think?

David.