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The trainer, the verifier, the imitator: Three ways in which human platform workers support artificial intelligence

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  • Paola Tubaro

    (CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, TAU - TAckling the Underspecified - Centre Inria de Saclay - Inria - Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique - LRI - Laboratoire de Recherche en Informatique - CentraleSupélec - Université Paris-Saclay - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, LRI - Laboratoire de Recherche en Informatique - CentraleSupélec - Université Paris-Saclay - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, IDHES - Institutions et Dynamiques Historiques de l'Économie et de la Société - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - UP8 - Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre - UEVE - Université d'Évry-Val-d'Essonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - ENS Paris Saclay - Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay)

  • Antonio A. Casilli

    (SID - Sociologie Information-Communication Design - I3 SES - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation de Telecom Paris - Télécom Paris - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris - I3 - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, SES - Département Sciences Economiques et Sociales - Télécom Paris - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris, IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris)

  • Marion Coville

    (IAE Poitiers - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises (IAE) - Poitiers - UP - Université de Poitiers = University of Poitiers, CEREGE [Poitiers, La Rochelle] - Centre de recherche en gestion [EA 1722] - UP - Université de Poitiers = University of Poitiers - ULR - La Rochelle Université)

Abstract

This paper sheds light on the role of digital platform labour in the development of today's artificial intelligence, predicated on data-intensive machine learning algorithms. Focus is on the specific ways in which outsourcing of data tasks to myriad 'micro-workers', recruited and managed through specialized platforms, powers virtual assistants, self-driving vehicles and connected objects. Using qualitative data from multiple sources, we show that micro-work performs a variety of functions, between three poles that we label, respectively, 'artificial intelligence preparation', 'artificial intelligence verification' and 'artificial intelligence impersonation'. Because of the wide scope of application of micro-work, it is a structural component of contemporary artificial intelligence production processes - not an ephemeral form of support that may vanish once the technology reaches maturity stage. Through the lens of micro-work, we prefigure the policy implications of a future in which data technologies do not replace human workforce but imply its marginalization and precariousness.

Suggested Citation

  • Paola Tubaro & Antonio A. Casilli & Marion Coville, 2020. "The trainer, the verifier, the imitator: Three ways in which human platform workers support artificial intelligence," Post-Print hal-02554196, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02554196
    DOI: 10.1177/2053951720919776
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-02554196v1
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    Cited by:

    1. Paola Tubaro & Antonio A Casilli & Maxime Cornet & Clément Le Ludec & Juana Torres Cierpe, 2025. "Where does AI come from? A global case study across Europe, Africa, and Latin America," Post-Print hal-04933816, HAL.
    2. Newlands, Gemma & Lutz, Christoph, 2024. "Mapping the prestige and social value of occupations in the digital economy," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    3. Andrea Coveri & Claudio Cozza & Dario Guarascio, 2021. "Monopoly Capitalism in the Digital Era," Working Papers in Public Economics 209, Department of Economics and Law, Sapienza University of Roma.
    4. Paola Tubaro, 2022. "Social networks and resilience in emerging labor markets," Post-Print hal-03850444, HAL.
    5. Grohmann, Rafael & Pereira, Gabriel & Guerra, Abel & Abilio, Ludmila Costhek & Moreschi, Bruno & Jurno, Amanda, 2022. "Platform scams: Brazilian workers’ experiences of dishonest and uncertain algorithmic management," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115622, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Tubaro, Paola & Coville, Marion & Le Ludec, Clément & Casilli, Antonio A., 2022. "Hidden inequalities: The gendered labour of women on micro-tasking platforms," Internet Policy Review: Journal on Internet Regulation, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG), Berlin, vol. 11(1), pages 1-26.
    7. Sarah Bankins & Paul Formosa, 2023. "The Ethical Implications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) For Meaningful Work," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 185(4), pages 725-740, July.
    8. Zhang, Zhuo, 2023. "The impact of the artificial intelligence industry on the number and structure of employments in the digital economy environment," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    9. Jean-Philippe Deranty & Thomas Corbin, 2022. "Artificial Intelligence and work: a critical review of recent research from the social sciences," Papers 2204.00419, arXiv.org.
    10. Grohmann, Rafael & Pereira, Gabriel & Guerra, Ana & Abílio, Ludmila Costhek & Moreschi, Bruno & Jurno, Amanda, 2021. "Platform scams: Brazilian workers’ experiences of dishonest and uncertain algorithmic management," MediArXiv 7ejqn, Center for Open Science.
    11. Pouliakas, Konstantinos & Santangelo, Giulia, 2025. "Are Artificial Intelligence (AI) Skills a Reward or a Gamble? Deconstructing the AI Wage Premium in Europe," IZA Discussion Papers 17607, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Simone Vannuccini & Ekaterina Prytkova, 2021. "Artificial Intelligence’s New Clothes? From General Purpose Technology to Large Technical System," SPRU Working Paper Series 2021-02, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    13. Paola Tubaro & Antonio A Casilli, 2024. "Who bears the burden of a pandemic? COVID-19 and the transfer of risk to digital platform workers," Post-Print hal-03369291, HAL.
    14. Yang Shen, 2024. "Future jobs: analyzing the impact of artificial intelligence on employment and its mechanisms," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 1-33, April.
    15. Plantin, Jean-Christophe, 2021. "The data archive as factory: alienation and resistance of data processors," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 109692, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    16. Paola Tubaro & Antonio A. Casilli & Mariana Fernández Massi & Julieta Longo & Juana Torres-Cierpe & Matheus Viana Braz, 2025. "The digital labour of artificial intelligence in Latin America: a comparison of Argentina, Brazil, and Venezuela," Post-Print hal-04935984, HAL.

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    Keywords

    machine learning; artificial intelligence; datafied production processes; micro-work; Digital platform labour;
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