The new age factory workers get their hands dirty with data

By Audrey Popa

Updated Nov 18, 2019 at 05:53 PM

Reading time: 2 minutes

616

When talking about the average factory worker, the typical persona that comes to mind is one that consistently performs physical strenuous tasks which are extremely repetitive. What’s also well understood is that many of these classically-defined factory jobs are being increasingly automated. The machine has been slowly making our lives easier, though it has caused much distress in terms of economic job loss. The world of the factory worker seems to be outdated, and long gone, but there is a new era of labour upon us—and it’s beginning in China.

In a semi-ironic and an almost romantic ode to older generations, old factories in China are being filled with new types of factories: hundreds of AI tagging start-ups. With the Chinese promising to be the global leader in AI by 2030, the understanding and need for their AI to be competitive and superior has become an immense focus for the country. In 2017, China’s start-ups alone made up more than one-third of the global vision market. China’s competitive advantage in the AI race against the U.S. could possibly be single-handedly due to their ability to tag data.

These factories are filled with workers who quite literally sit in front of a screen, tagging everything they see picture after picture, to help different AI projects (whether it be for search browser, autonomous cars, or facial recognition) better learn to identify and differentiate objects and learn as they go. The interesting part about such factories is that many of these start-ups are developing in rural areas, where overhead cost tends to be cheap—providing those without education as well as those in remote areas with new job opportunities.

Zane-Priede

This new industry is growing fast, employing hundreds of young citizens around the country. The tasks fit similar job descriptions to those of factory work in the past, just in a completely different context—plenty of manual work, lots of repetition and a focus on quantity.

With AI currently being utterly incapable of learning such things on its own, an entire industry has been born to its aid. Artificial intelligence, while being tagged as the peak of machine automation, is quite literally built on manual human labour, and will continue to be so. With descriptions of the work environments being reasonable, and the average income ranging between $400-$500 (around the nation-wide salary average), it’s been reported that workers prefer AI tagging jobs to other alternatives such as typical “old fashion labour” that would be the only alternative for people living in remote areas. The benefit, many say, is that typically uneducated rural citizens can at least become part of a new, upcoming and important industry.

So even as automation replaces the human touch in industries that have traditionally been human-friendly, it also continues to create new industries, new economic job opportunities and ease the type of strenuous or unwanted work needed to be done. This industry won’t be in need of human workers forever, but it is comforting to know (and consistently has been proven in the last 200 years) that even though we might not be able to fathom the new industries and jobs new technological advancement will create, the ever-changing job landscape will always have room for humans.

Keep On Reading

By Matilda Ferraris

From Ballerina Cappuccina to Trallalero Trallalà, we unpack the darker undertones of Italian brainrot

By Abby Amoakuh

Millie Bobby Brown and husband Jake Bongiovi face backlash for starring in ad promoting Dubai

By Eliza Frost

Everything to know about Justin Lee Fisher, arrested at Travis Kelce’s home over Taylor Swift deposition papers from Justin Baldoni

By Charlie Sawyer

President Trump and JD Vance angry over the DNC setting up a taco truck outside RNC headquarters

By Charlie Sawyer

Australian actor Joseph Zada cast as Haymitch Abernathy in upcoming Hunger Games prequel

By Eliza Frost

Gavin Casalegno calls out Team Jeremiah bullying in The Summer I Turned Pretty fandom

By Charlie Sawyer

Madison Beer opens up about reconnecting with the person who leaked her explicit photos as a teen

By Eliza Frost

How exactly is the UK government’s Online Safety Act keeping young people safe? 

By Charlie Sawyer

Harry Potter star defends Tom Felton over his controversial comments on JK Rowling’s transphobia

By Abby Amoakuh

South Asian creators call out influencers for cultural appropriation after seeing scandi scarves at Coachella

By Charlie Sawyer

Donald trump to accept $400M luxury plane from Qatar royal family

By Charlie Sawyer

From breaking up families to spreading rumours about Joe Biden’s death, here’s what QAnons been up to

By Charlie Sawyer

Wednesday star Jenna Ortega reveals surprising dream role in recent interview

By Charlie Sawyer

Penn Badgley praised for opening up about fatherhood and raising sons on Call Her Daddy

By Eliza Frost

UK to lower voting age to 16 by next election. A controversial move, but the right one

By Eliza Frost

Jessie Cave was banned from a Harry Potter fan convention because of her OnlyFans account

By Eliza Frost

Taylor Swift announces new album on Travis Kelce’s podcast. Everything we know about TS12 so far

By Eliza Frost

Glen Powell’s GQ photoshoot is a satiric look at modern day males—and he’s in on the joke 

By Abby Amoakuh

BLACKPINK’s Lisa faces backlash after wearing civil rights icon Rosa Parks on her crotch at Met Gala

By Charlie Sawyer

Netflix’s new viral movie, The Life List, is prompting Gen Zers to break up with their boyfriends