Kenyan AI workers report exploitation and mental strain
NAIROBI, KENYA — Kenya has become a significant hub for artificial intelligence (AI) labor, attracting major tech companies like OpenAI, Meta, and Microsoft. The promise of jobs in this rapidly expanding field drew many Kenyan workers, who saw it as a path to future prosperity.
However, the reality has been starkly different, with numerous reports of workers being overworked, underpaid, and subjected to harsh conditions.
The essential role of human workers in AI
A report by 60 Minutes highlights the critical role of Kenyan workers, such as Naftali Wambalo, in the AI development process as “humans in the loop.” These workers undertake essential tasks like sorting and labeling data to train AI systems.
They spend long hours analyzing photos and videos, drawing boxes around objects, and labeling them to help AI algorithms learn to recognize these elements.
Despite advancements in AI technology, the need for human intervention persists due to the continuous emergence of new devices and inventions that require precise labeling.
Exploitative pay and unpaid labor
Despite their crucial contributions, Kenyan workers employed through American outsourcing firms like Sama earn as little as $1.50 to $2 an hour. This is a small fraction of the $12.50 per hour that OpenAI reportedly agreed to pay Sama for each worker.
Wambalo and his colleagues Nathan Nkunzimana and Fasica Berhane Gebrekidan, report that Sama pressured them to complete assignments faster than required. If a six-month contract was finished in three months, workers could find themselves without pay for the remaining months.
While Sama offered rewards for quick work, these were minimal. “They used to say ‘thank you.’ They give you a bottle of soda and KFC chicken. Two pieces. And that is it,” Wambalo recounted.
Workers at Remotasks, operated by Scale AI, faced similar issues. Ephantus Kanyugi, Joan Kinyua, Joy Minayo, Michael Geoffrey Asia, and Duncan Koech, reported instances of not being paid at all and having no recourse or means to file complaints about these practices.
Civil rights activist Nerima Wako-Ojiwa condemned this exploitation, emphasizing the stark contrast between these conditions and what would be acceptable in the United States.
Psychological impact and legal challenges
The mental strain on these workers is significant, as they are often required to sift through distressing content, including graphic violence and explicit material.
Wambalo, for instance, was assigned to train AI to identify and filter out pornography, hate speech, and excessive violence from social media. This required him to spend hours sifting through some of the most disturbing content online.
Wambalo described the psychological toll of his work: “I looked at people being slaughtered,” he said. “People engaging in sexual activity with animals. People abusing children physically, sexually. People committing suicide.”
He also noted that the material he reviewed adversely affected his marriage: “After countlessly seeing those sexual activities, pornography on the job, that I was doing, I hate sex.”
Gebrekidan initially believed she had been hired for a translation role but ended up reviewing content involving dismembered bodies and drone attack victims. She expressed the emotional impact, saying, “I find it hard now to even have conversations with people. It’s just that I find it easier to cry than to speak.”
Despite Sama’s assertions of offering mental health support, workers maintain that it falls short of addressing their needs adequately.
“We want psychiatrists,” Wambalo stated. “We want psychologists, qualified, who know exactly what we are going through and how they can help us to cope.”
Workers take a stand
Wambalo emphasized that major tech companies must take responsibility for the impact their jobs have on workers. “They are the ones providing the work,” he said.
Gebrekidan expressed frustration, feeling that companies are aware of their employees’ struggles but remain indifferent. “Just because we’re Black, or just because we’re vulnerable for now, that doesn’t give them the right to exploit us like this,” she stated.
In response to these conditions, approximately 200 digital workers are suing Sama and Meta over “unreasonable working conditions” that have led to psychological issues. Nkunzimana, one of the plaintiffs, stated, “It was proven by a psychiatrist that we are thoroughly sick”.
While Kenya does have labor laws, Wako-Ojiwa pointed out that they are outdated and do not adequately address digital labor.
“I do think that our labor laws need to recognize it, but not just in Kenya alone,” she said. “Because what happens is when we start to push back, in terms of protection of workers, a lot of these companies…they shut down and move to a neighboring country.”
Calls for reform and accountability
Although the Kenyan government promotes the country as a “Silicon Savannah,” its outdated labor laws fail to adequately protect digital workers. Wako-Ojiwa has called for updated legislation to prevent exploitation, not only in Kenya but globally. She cautioned that without such reforms, companies might simply relocate to countries with even fewer worker protections.
Wambalo also urged big tech companies to conduct business in Kenya “the right way.” He criticized the disparity in pay, stating, “It’s not because you realize Kenya’s a third-world country, you say, ‘This job I would normally pay $30 in the U.S., but because you are Kenya, $2 is enough for you.'”
Sama has since terminated the harmful content projects that Wambalo and Berhane Gebrekidan were involved in. Neither Sama nor Scale AI, which operated the Remotasks platform in Kenya, agreed to on-camera interviews.
Meta and OpenAI told 60 Minutes they are committed to ensuring safe working conditions, including fair wages and access to mental health counseling.
Remotasks stated that any work completed “in line with our community guidelines was paid out.” However, in March, as workers began voicing complaints publicly, Remotasks abruptly shut down operations in Kenya, locking all workers out of their accounts.
