Krista Pawloski, an AI worker on Amazon Mechanical Turk, recalls a pivotal experience that influenced her views on the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI). In her role moderating and assessing AI-generated content, she encountered a tweet that included an obscure racial slur, leading her to reflect on how many offensive materials might have gone unnoticed. This incident prompted her to question the discernment of workers in similar positions and their potential to inadvertently allow harmful content to circulate.
Pawloski decided to refrain from personal use of generative AI products, urging her family and friends to exercise caution with such technology. She expressed concern that many tasks on Mechanical Turk could unintentionally facilitate harm, a sentiment echoed by other AI workers who have become wary after understanding how AI functions. For instance, another worker described their unease over AI responses, particularly in sensitive areas like medical information, highlighting instances where they were expected to evaluate inaccuracies without adequate training.
Statements from Amazon and Google maintain that AI workers can select which tasks they undertake, with safeguards in place to ensure quality. However, many AI raters report feeling unsupported, citing unrealistic time limits and vague instructions. A community of raters, responsible for ensuring AI accuracy, has begun educating their personal networks on the limitations and risks of using generative AI tools.
Concerns about the reliability of AI outputs, including increased rates of misinformation, have emerged from audits by organizations like NewsGuard. Workers express a lack of trust in the systems they interact with, attributing this mistrust to the emphasis on speed and profitability over accuracy and ethical standards.
The AI workforce, recognizing the pervasive issues within AI, emphasizes the importance of transparency and accountability. They advocate for public awareness about the underlying processes and implications of AI, drawing parallels to ethical considerations in other industries, like textiles, in hopes of fostering a more informed dialogue surrounding AI technology.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/nov/22/ai-workers-tell-family-stay-away