If applications from world-leading technology companies such as OpenAI, Amazon, Microsoft or Google are used, there is a good chance that services produced by online remote work, also known as cloud work, have already been consumed. Organizations large and small across the economy are increasingly relying on outsourced labor available through platforms such as Scale AI, Freelancer.com, Amazon Mechanical Turk, Fiverr, and Upwork.
Recently, these platforms have become crucial for artificial intelligence (AI) companies to train their AI systems and ensure they function properly. OpenAI is a Scale AI and Remotasks client, tagging data for their ChatGPT and DALL-E applications. The social media They hire platforms for content moderation. Beyond the technological world, universities, companies and NGOs (non-governmental organizations) regularly use these platforms to hire translators, graphic designers or IT experts.
Cloud work platforms have become an essential income opportunity for a growing number of people. A study regarding cloud workers Oxford University academics Otto Kässi, Vili Lehdonvirta and Fabian Stephany estimated that more than 163 million people have registered on those websites.
Freelancer.com alone has more than 67 million registered workers, the equivalent of the population of the United Kingdom. These workers, many of whom are located in low- and middle-income countries, work for clients who may be in the other corner of the world.
From the customer's perspective, the offer is hard to resist. Online labor platforms present them with cheap, often skilled, labor available 24/7. And fierce competition for jobs on the platforms ensures that the hiring company will have the upper hand in negotiating terms and payment. It's no surprise that AI companies are taking this opportunity to outsource the large amounts of hidden manual work needed to create their applications.
But for workers on the other side, the situation could be dire. They may spend much of their day looking for and applying for work, time that is unpaid. For most platforms, there is no guarantee that the tasks offered will not be below your minimum wage.
And if they have a problem with the client, there is not always a clear appeals process, which puts them at risk of not receiving any payment.
For the third year, the Fairwork project, also based at the University of Oxford, evaluated 15 of these cloud work platforms, including Freelancer.com, Amazon Mechanical Turk, Fiverr, and Upwork. The companies were rated on a scale of 0 to 10, according to the five principles of fair work: wages, conditions, contracts, management and representation.
Scoring criteria included, among other things, whether the platform paid workers on time, whether it mitigated health and safety risks, and whether there were clear communication channels and due process for decisions affecting workers. The results were based on a survey of 752 workers from 94 countries, as well as information collected from platform administrators.
None of the platforms met more than half of these basic decent work standards. Popular freelance platforms like Fiverr and Freelancer.com scored 2 and 1 points, respectively.
Platforms focused on small tasks, such as data labeling or content moderation, had some of the worst scores: Appen (3), Clickworker (1), Scale/Remotasks (1), Microworkers (0), and Amazon's Mechanical Turk (0). On average, the workers surveyed earned $2.15 for their time working on these platforms.
The results point out how many of these platforms do not comply with basic workers' rights and protections. Due to the international nature of this industry, cloud work platforms can often bypass national labor regulations, creating a sort of virtual Wild West in which workers can lose out.
Worryingly, this model is spreading rapidly, supercharged by demand from artificial intelligence and the broader trend towards work remote and flexible after the pandemic.
In particular, some platforms in the study agreed to make some improvements, such as Terawork and Comeup, which implemented a minimum wage. However, the biggest challenges in the industry can only be solved through regulations that ensure these companies meet the same labor standards as everyone else.
At the international level, the International Labor Organization is discussing the development of standards to guarantee workers' rights in the digital economy. This is a golden opportunity to address the problems faced by workers on cloud work platforms. However, this will not be effective if national governments around the world do not also get involved.
Unfortunately, until now, discussions about regulating the platform economy have mainly focused on sectors such as food delivery and ride-sharing. It is urgent that legislators and regulators also consider the unique challenges faced by remote workers online, and put the same energy into finding solutions for this hidden, but very real, workforce.
