A shocking interview with CBS' "60 Minutes" revealed one facet of the human cost behind the booming popularity of artificial intelligence.
The 60 Minutes (@60minutes) account shared a video on X, formerly known as Twitter, that featured several Kenyan workers who had contracted with OpenAI through an American outsourcing company, Sama.
Documents obtained by 60 Minutes show OpenAI agreed to pay Sama, an American outsourcing firm, $12.50 an hour per Kenyan worker - far higher than the $2 an hour workers say they got. Sama says it pays a fair wage for the region. pic.twitter.com/5uSF3o2b3Y
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) November 25, 2024
And while documents showed that OpenAI had agreed to pay Sama $12.50 an hour per worker, the interviewees said they received a mere $2 an hour — before tax.
The Kenyan cost of living differs from that of the U.S., but one of the workers shared how the $2 wages were still shockingly low. "For me, I was living paycheck to paycheck," she said tearfully. "I have saved nothing because it's not enough."
To add insult to the already low wages, the interviewees also explained that Sama drove them to complete work earlier than the contracted schedule. And while the company was still paid for the full contracted amount, they said, employees would not be paid for the remaining hours if they finished early.
Instead, Sama gave them "two pieces of KFC and Coca Cola."
Another X user, this cant be Riggs? (@thiscantberiggs), reposted the video along with critical commentary on the matter: "So not only is AI destroying the planet, it's using cheap/almost slave labor to do so."
There are multiple reasons AI has been controversial, even as companies have continued to lean heavily into its adoption.
In addition to the human, academic, and job-centric concerns, many people are frustrated with the high environmental and natural resource costs that artificial intelligence demands.
AI is powered by enormous banks of computers that are constantly running. Naturally, the energy and water costs to keep these warehouses running and air-conditioned are staggering.
In fact, since AI use has increased, many major tech companies that have sworn to lower planet-warming air pollution in accordance with the Paris Agreement guidelines have instead seen their levels increase. Google, for instance, has seen a 48% increase in its heat-trapping pollution since 2019 that is attributed largely to its implementation of AI, according to research from Northwestern University.
Similar issues have been happening with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, leading many to wonder about the long-term viability of these energy-intensive technologies.
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