"Worst Experience... Trauma from Grotesque Content, Another Harm of AI Popularity"

OECD Secretary-General: "Worker Work Intensity Increased After AI Adoption"

Concerns have been raised that the workload of low-wage workers filtering inappropriate content generated by artificial intelligence (AI) is increasing.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

The US daily Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 23rd (local time) that such jobs are concentrated mainly in low-wage countries like Kenya, and that workers are experiencing trauma after being exposed to violent and grotesque content.

This issue is drawing attention as a new downside of AI, contrary to expectations of improved work efficiency following the popularity of ChatGPT.

Companies are hiring Kenyan workers to review and classify inappropriate content such as violence, self-harm, rape, and decapitation among the numerous contents created by AI online.

In particular, social media companies have been working to filter inappropriate user posts even before the AI boom. The importance of these tasks has been further emphasized after the rise of ChatGPT.

Since chatbots including ChatGPT operate based on large language models (LLMs) trained on an enormous amount of digital documents available on the internet, there is a high possibility that harmful content quoting the darker side of the internet will be generated.

Recently, it has been estimated that companies are spending tens of millions of dollars annually on content feedback work through workers. OpenAI has stated that it employs more than 1,000 people for this task.

The problem is that workers in charge of this task describe it as psychologically demanding work, with one saying it was "the worst work experience."

Previously, nearly 200 Kenyan workers responsible for AI content filtering sued Facebook, claiming they developed trauma from the work. Last month, a Kenyan court ruled that Meta has legal responsibility for the treatment of contract employees.

Mathias Cormann, Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), recently explained that there are both positive and negative aspects of AI development, stating, "Workers report that the intensity of their work has increased after using AI."

CNN, citing an OECD report, reported, "Experts outside the AI field say that although work has increased due to AI use, there has not yet been an effect on wage increases."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.