Google has terminated its partnership with Appen, an Australian company that provided training data for AI systems like Bard. The Alphabet Worker’s Union states that this will have a serious negative effect on subcontracted workers.
Appen has more than 1 million contractors worldwide who label data for AI training. Their clients include big names like Microsoft, Apple, Meta, and Amazon. A contract with Google made up almost a third of Appen’s income, leading to a 40% drop in their stock price. Google’s employee union stated that this decision will affect ‘at least 2000’ subcontracted workers. Appen has previously been criticized for paying low wages to contractors working on Google projects.
The layoffs at Google are affecting more than just full-time staff; partners and contractors are also being impacted. With AI moving away from human labor to increased computing power, these ‘ghost workers’ could soon be left behind in the training process.
