Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

A group of contract workers responsible for training Google's new AI chatbot said they were illegally fired because they complained about low wages and unreasonable working hours. This prevents them from working properly and does not ensure that chatbots do not cause harm.

Six contract workers filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Wednesday. They claim that they were unlawfully dismissed by their employer Appen for organizing activities. Appen provides tens of thousands of contract workers to large technology companies. The men said they had spent nearly a year fighting for better wages and working conditions. They were fired two weeks ago after one of the most prominent workers organizers wrote to Congress that their situation could lead to dangerous behavior by Google chatbot Bard.

Ed Stackhouse, 49, one of the contract workers evaluating chatbot performance, wrote to two senators on May 15 that staff evaluating chatbot performance "often don't have enough time to evaluate longer responses," which "can lead to defective products and ultimately to more dangerous products." The two senators chaired a congressional hearing on the risks of artificial intelligence.

Appen told workers they were fired because of a change in "business conditions," Stackhouse said. Appen did not respond to requests for comment.

Google spokesman Courtenay Mencini said: "Appen handles the working conditions of these contract workers, including wages, benefits, employment changes and tasks assigned to them. We respect the right of workers to join trade unions or participate in organized activities, but this is a matter between workers and employers. "

This letter to Congress represents that contractors who help train artificial intelligence are also beginning to pay attention to the rapid spread of artificial intelligence tools. AI researchers, politicians and tech advocates have worried that the technology is injecting bias into tech products, leading to cybercrime, displacing more workers and potentially ultimately escaping human control. Stackhouse said the initial struggle for better working conditions for oneself has now become a more important thing to explore the impact of artificial intelligence on society.

Corporate and consumer interest in AI is growing rapidly, sparking fierce competition between Google and its archrival Microsoft. They are accelerating the development and sale of AI tools and applying the technology to existing products ranging from Google Search to Microsoft Word.

The craze was sparked by AI startup OpenAI, which last November launched ChatGPT, a chatbot that shocked the world with its ability to engage in human-like conversations, pass professional exams and write computer code. Experts attribute OpenAI's success in part to its use of human testers and trainers to help improve the robot, teaching it to be less aggressive and more fun.

However, the rapid development and competition of AI technologies has raised concerns among many AI ethics experts. They say AI has been trained on massive amounts of data collected from the Internet and has inherited biases such as racial discrimination and sexism in the data. In addition, these robots often fabricate false information and disguise it as real information.

In response to these impacts, Google and other large tech companies have turned to hiring outside contractors. Contract workers have become increasingly important over the years, doing everything from running a cafeteria to writing computer code. Contractors like Stackhouse have helped improve Google search for years by rating results for usefulness and accuracy.

Even before launching Bard to the public in March of this year, Google was already using contract workers heavily. Appen contractors said Google began shifting their work to training Bard in February.

Michelle Curtis, 43, was another contract worker fired by Appen. "It feels very dramatic," she says. "Evaluators have time limits for completing assigned tasks. In training Bard, this may mean that they have only five minutes to evaluate the robot's detailed answers about the origins of the Civil War. "Humans simply cannot do that," Curtis said. "

Curtis and Stackhouse, both Appen's "thorn heads," have been trying to get better pay and benefits with the help of the Alphabet workers union. The Alphabet Workers Union is an organization of Google employees and dispatch workers affiliated with the Communications Workers of America. Curtis is from Idaho and has children to raise. Stackhouse lives in North Carolina and suffers from disabilities. Both work part-time from home for Appen, which they call a lifeline for their families.

In 2019, Google said it would start requiring outside contractors to pay contract workers $15 an hour. But Stackhouse and Curtis said Appen never met that standard. Appen agreed to raise wages to $14.50 an hour but refused to give employees enough hours to enjoy benefits, workers said.

With complaints filed with the NLRB, workers 'struggles are escalating, drawing more attention to the plight of low-wage workers behind cutting-edge AI. Curtis and Stackhouse said the process could take months because of the large number of cases the NLRB handles, but they eventually hope to be able to return to work, collect unpaid wages and even get Google to listen to their concerns about AI risks.

Contract workers, stackhouse says, are like "ghost workers" who create great value for google without being seen. He added: "Without our efforts, there would be no artificial intelligence. "

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