And, like its predecessors, the industry is once again dominated by labor arbitrage companies, which pay wages close to the legal minimum even as they sell data to foreign clients for a hefty mark-up. The economy that did so much to turn call centers and garment factories into engines of productivity at the end of the 20th century has quietly been doing the same with data work in the 21st. And in a few days, more money will arrive-a 50% bonus, awarded once the voice clips are validated as accurate.ĭata work-creating or refining the raw material at the heart of AI- is not new in India. Just by reading text aloud in her native language of Kannada, spoken by around 60 million people mostly in central and southern India, Chandrika has used this app to earn an hourly wage of about $5, nearly 20 times the Indian minimum. Unlike her day job, the app doesn’t make her wait until the end of the month for payment money lands in her bank account in just a few hours. That’s roughly the same amount she makes in a month of working as a teacher at a distant school, after the cost of the three buses it takes her to get there and back. But in return for around six hours of work spread over several days in late April, she received 2,570 rupees ($31.30). At each tap, the sound of her voice speaking her mother tongue emerges from the phone.īefore she started using this app, 30-year-old Chandrika (who, like many South Indians, uses the first letter of her father's name, K., instead of a last name) had just 184 rupees ($2.25) in her bank account. As Chandrika scrolls, she clicks on several audio clips in succession, demonstrating the simplicity of the app she recently started using. It is early morning in Alahalli village in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, but the heat and humidity are rising fast. In the shade of a coconut palm, Chandrika tilts her smartphone screen to avoid the sun’s glare.
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