Millions of 'cloud workers', upon whom AI depends, have no basic labour rights - Raconteur
While the generative AI providers promise an automated future, behind the curtain millions of invisible gig workers are busy completing tasks such as software development, data annotation and content moderation to power said platforms, for little money and without basic workplace protections.
These mostly invisible labourers have been dubbed 'cloud workers' by the Fairwork project, a labour rights organisation hosted at the Oxford Internet Institute. These workers are largely – although not only – located in the global south, poorly paid even by local standards and have next to no labour rights or recourse over bad behaviour from bosses. Globally, according to the World Bank, there may be 435 million of them.