Chinese AI Companies Exploit Kenyan Workers for $5 Daily Video Labeling in 12-Hour Shifts
Summary
Chinese AI companies exploit Kenya's massive youth unemployment crisis by paying students and graduates just $5.42 for grueling 12-hour shifts labeling up to 26,000 video clips daily through shadowy WhatsApp networks, sparking warnings of digital colonialism as workers operate without contracts or knowledge of their actual employers.
Key Points
- Chinese AI companies are hiring Kenyan students and graduates to label thousands of videos daily for as little as $5.42, working 12-hour shifts through informal WhatsApp groups and middlemen with no formal contracts
- Workers annotate up to 26,000 video clips per person daily with 90% accuracy requirements, operating through opaque networks where they never know which Chinese companies they work for
- Kenya's 67% youth unemployment rate and weak labor protections make it attractive for this digital outsourcing, prompting officials to warn of digital colonialism as the government drafts new regulations