We know this now: artificial intelligence is not only a Silicon Valley product. When trying to look further, research and the media have found AI’s “hidden workforce” (the data workers who label images, transcribe audio, and evaluate content to train machine learning models) in countries like Kenya, the Philippines, Venezuela, and Madagascar.
In a new study, led by Myriam Raymond and with the collaboration of Antonio A. Casilli and Lucy Neveux, we lift the veil on data work in Egypt. Over 600 questionnaires, 15 focus groups, and an online ethnography reveal the substantial contribution of this country to AI technologies produced and marketed overseas. Egypt’s position in the global AI supply chain is unique, as it serves technology companies both in the Western world (Europe and North America) and in China, often through intermediaries based in the Gulf.
As already observed in other countries, these workers are mostly young: three quarters are below 34 years of age. They live mostly in urban areas. They are also highly educated: in particular, three out of five have an undergraduate degree in science or technical fields. Another notable similarity concerns low pay and lack of protections. We find that four out of five data workers undertake this activity out of financial need, and they spend the income earned in this way immediately on rent, food, and clothes. On average, though, data work pays less than half the country’s monthly minimum wage, and earnings are highly volatile.
The gender gap is more acute than observed elsewhere. Three workers out of four are men. The few female data workers are more dependent on this activity: data work is the only job for two out of ten of them (against one in ten men). Women face unique barriers, reflecting locally-grounded cultural constraints and concerns about online safety.
More generally, culture and morals play an important role in the perceptions that Egyptian workers have of their activity – in ways that had not emerged so forcefully in other countries before. Data tasks sometimes conflict with their principles and beliefs, prompting them to continually question and, at times, reshape their digital identities.
Read the full report here.
Data Big and Small 