Why giant technology companies use the poor of Africa to program

When artificial intelligence successfully implements the tasks required, the technology companies in the American Silicon Valley are considered a unique achievement. "But the real magic is in the people who stand behind this, including the Kenyan" Brenda ".

The Kenyan young woman, Brenda, 26, is a model for this human magic, which surpasses artificial intelligence.

The single mother lives in the "Keepira" neighborhood, one of the largest poor neighborhoods in Africa, where there are hundreds of thousands of people in a very small area whose area does not exceed the "Hyde Park" park in London.

Brenda, the bus, takes independently of its work on the western side of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.And you go to a large building that also includes more than 1,000 people who work with it hard on a side of artificial intelligence, we have not heard or saw little of it.

For eight hours a day, you prepare training data, which is often considered in a way that makes the computer able to understand and deal with it.

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Brenda is downloading an image on the device, then uses the mouse (mouse) to track almost in the image.People, cars, street signs, signs on the sky, to determine the condition of the atmosphere, and are they clear or cloudy.

The introduction of millions of these images in the artificial intelligence system aims to operate a "self -driving car", and the use of one model of which can help identify these other elements in real ways.And more data means smarter machines.

The Kenyan young woman and business comrades are sitting near computers screens and perhaps sticking to them, examining the pictures and making their size larger to make sure that there is no one inch is incorrect or clear.There is a supervisor who will review the work and return the pictures to them again if it is not good enough.

The fastest and most accurate coaches are honored by the presence of their names on a TV screens in the office.As for the appropriate reward for everyone, they are shopping vouchers.

Brenda lives in a very young house with her daughter, brother and mother, and she told me when she visited: "I got a chance to do something special." She added, "For my work that I do, I think I am working on something that will help someone in the future.".

District School

Brenda is working in the American company Samasors, its headquarters in San Francisco and its products use giant technology companies, including Google, Microsoft, Salisvore and Yahoo.These companies do not prefer to talk about the nature of their work with Samasors, especially as they often relate to future projects.But she says that the information being prepared in Kenya is an important part of some of the largest and most famous efforts related to the use of artificial intelligence in the Silicon Valley, USA..

Artificial intelligence represents a kind of technological progress that may not show its influence and will not be felt by the residents of the Kibira region, where Brenda lives in Kenya.

That is the poor and densely populated area suffers from other problems that require a solution such as a lack of drinking water and a sanitation crisis.

But this does not mean that artificial intelligence will not have a positive impact here.

We went to one of the few stable buildings in the Kibira neighborhood near the railway line, and the building seemed as if it was not working because of the mud a lot on this rainy day.But it seems that it has been used continuously since the time of colonialism.

Almost a year ago, this building was the line between the police forces and the angry masses on which they were throwing stones.Today, it appears full of activity: Media and Studio School, BC, and in the first floor there is a room full of computers.

Here also, Professor "Gidwin Najino" is working in teaching the use of the desktop for about 25 students.

The curious in this process is that digital illiteracy is high, even in Kibira, despite the spread of smartphones that the locals buy with many chargers and accessories by electronic payment from the money payment service on the phone.

But many regions of Africa are skipping the era of the desktop computer.The process of installing the keyboard and mouse is a strange and exhausting experience.One of the workers in the Samasors team told me that she was noticing the trainees' reluctance to use the desktop and use the mobile phone to search for online information.

The training course here is designed for those who want to work in the future in Samasors, or any other digital economy company.The cost of the course is 500 Kenny ($ 5).This is a significant amount for a large segment of people who often live below the poverty line.The company used to provide the training course for free, but they told me that the attendance (and focus) was superficial, without financial commitment by the trainees..

Now the biggest challenge, as Professor Najino said, is noise because of children.A group of children caused a sensation after receiving musical instruments, which is expected from children in their circumstances, as well as the presence of a market for activity outside the school.

A headquarters suitable for California

On the other hand, the office of Samasors is located in a different part of Nairobi, reassuring that this city is up.The company occupies four floors from the Business Park Building, with huge rows of computers that are used in the training data setting function.

If you do not look from the window (where the poor Kenya neighborhoods) you may really think that you are working in a technology company in the Silicon Valley, USA.

The walls are covered with a mobility iron in a way that is modern in California, but it works for the company a lot of workers coming from the slums, and they represent about 75 percent of the workforce..

The most interesting here is that Samasors has overcome a problem that most Silicon Valley companies are famous for, which is the lack of working women.Women here represent more than half of the company's workplace, and it is a wonderful achievement in a country in which the mother's professional life is not canceled.

Therefore, the company offers a child breastfeeding room, a 90 -day worker status vacation, and there is flexibility in choosing women working dates, which makes the company a model for perfection not only in Kenya, but also worldwide as well..

"As many people say, if you have a man in the workplace, he will care for his family," said Helen Savala, who runs human resources at the company..

(But) If you have a woman in the workplace, she will take care of her family, as well as the largest family she belongs to.So you will have a much greater effect..

"It will never succeed"

This balance (in the number of working women) is not limited to workers at the level of data entry.In the province of Mashkin in San Francisco, in a much more humble office than the Kenya office, Lila Jana, the institution and CEO of Samasors, revealed that women represent a majority in the company's management team.

She says: "It is very unusual in the Silicon Valley companies in general, and in particular within the artificial intelligence companies," she says..

And she explains: "We think that it is just an ordinary matter.It is a competitive advantage."

Samasors was founded in 2008, and it received a lukewarm reception in its early days.During this period, America struck a stagnation, so it was not welcome to the idea of using a large number of jobs in developing countries.It is also not now.

Also, those who liked this logic were concerned about the small number of people who enjoy the digital skills needed to perform the work at a level accepted by giant technology industry companies..

Lila Jana recalls this position, saying: "Very smart people in the world of technology, and in the world of big charity, they said this is a great idea, but it will never succeed.".

But today, Samasors is the largest organization of its kind in East Africa, and it has a presence in Asia and North America.

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The company president talked about her record in terms of accuracy and safety as major reasons that made Google and others deal with it.But of course, there is a clear motivation for these companies to use workers in the world's areas where wages are very low, and where the population there is despair of obtaining a fixed work.

Samsors is targeting those whose income currently reaches two dollars per day, or less, in what is known as the unofficial economy of individual or dangerous jobs.The company gives workers a payment of up to 9 dollars a day.Although this is an improvement in the levels of wages in these areas, it is still very low compared to the Silicon Valley.

"Yes, it's costly effective," Leila said.."But there is an important thing in our field of work is not to pay the wages that may raise a crisis in the local labor markets.If we have to pay much more wages, we will give up everything.There is the possibility of a negative impact on the cost of housing, and the cost of food in the societies in which our work flourishes..

Then, of course, there is a question about what will happen if this work is no longer needed.Samasors mainly works in providing data for automated systems.What if the process of creating this data becomes automatic as well?

The company president said: "This is the great puzzle (the question of one billion dollars) in technology, which affects everyone crazy.".

"I think there is a lot of concern about this idea.But if you are already talking to data scientists, the minds behind these artificial intelligence algorithms, you will find that machines are more late than most people realize..

"We will still need training data for a long time."

"I changed everything in my life"

Work on training data is boring and repeated never ends.Some employees, away from our cameras, talked about how they face pressure in order to work quickly to achieve the company's goals, which leads to a lack of rest periods.Some workers in Samasors work part -time and can work anywhere else, but there is a webcam watching them while they work.

We did not find any of the workers that we saw in the office enjoying any acceptable kind of supporting the comfortable work environment, often sitting with a curved back, using the computer nervously and suffering from great pressure on the eyes and body for hours.The company said it will work on this.

The complaints related to work, and they are definitely not new in this industry, are quickly followed up with stories about changing people's lives.

Samasors believe that it has affected a life of approximately 50 thousand people in the developing world, whether from its employees or beneficiaries of people working for it..

It conducted a poll of the opinions of the former employees, revealed that about 84 percent of them moved to an official work (in the government) or obtained a high education.

One of these workers has turned a better situation, it is Idris Abdi, 25, who managed to get out of the poor neighborhoods.

"I changed everything in my life."

"I changed my point of view, it revealed to me to see the hope behind living here."

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