African AI Workers Demand Fair Labor Practices from US Tech Giants

The event explicitly involves AI systems through the workers' roles in labeling data and moderating content for AI training and operation. The harms described include psychological injury (post-traumatic stress disorder), labor rights violations (low pay, unpaid wages, union suppression), and exploitation, all directly caused by the development and use of AI systems. These harms fall under the definition of AI Incident as they involve injury to health and violations of labor and human rights directly linked to AI system development and use. Therefore, this event is classified as an AI Incident.

The event involves AI systems because the workers are engaged in training AI models, a key part of AI system development. The reported harms include violations of labor rights and exploitation, which fall under the category of breaches of obligations under applicable law protecting labor rights. Since these harms are occurring and directly linked to the AI system's development and use, this qualifies as an AI Incident.

The event involves human workers engaged in content moderation and data labeling for AI training datasets, which is integral to the development of AI systems like OpenAI's DALL-E and Meta's Llama. The workers face severe psychological harm and exploitative labor conditions, which are direct harms linked to the AI system's development and use. This meets the definition of an AI Incident as it involves harm to health and violations of labor rights caused by the AI system's development and use. The harm is realized and ongoing, not merely potential, so it is not a hazard or complementary information.

The event explicitly involves AI systems through content moderation and data labeling tasks that support AI development and operation. The workers describe direct harm to their health and wellbeing caused by the nature of their AI-related work, including exposure to disturbing content and poor labor conditions. This constitutes harm to persons and violations of labor rights, which are recognized categories of AI Incident harms. The letter highlights systemic exploitation linked to AI system use, making this a clear case of an AI Incident rather than a hazard or complementary information.

The workers are engaged in AI system development and use (training AI and content moderation), which are AI system activities. The harms described include psychological injury and labor rights violations directly linked to their AI-related work. The presence of lawsuits and public accusations confirms that these harms have materialized. Hence, this qualifies as an AI Incident due to direct harm to health and violations of labor and human rights caused by the AI system's development and use conditions.