Core Viewpoint - The article discusses the emergence of new job roles in the AI era, particularly focusing on the experiences of a Kenyan individual named Michael, who works as a text chat operator pretending to be an AI companion. This highlights the underlying human labor that supports AI technologies and raises ethical concerns about the exploitation of workers in developing countries [1][45]. Group 1: Job Description and Environment - Data workers, as defined in the article, primarily engage in basic tasks such as data labeling and auditing, distinct from data engineers [2]. - Michael, a graduate from a technical school in Nairobi, struggled to find a job in his field due to limited opportunities in Kenya's aviation sector, leading him to work for a data labeling company called Sama [4][8]. - He later transitioned to a role as a text chat operator for New Media Services, where he was required to type quickly and maintain engaging conversations under strict performance metrics [10][11]. Group 2: Working Conditions and Challenges - The job involved switching between multiple fictional personas while working in a cramped environment, highlighting the stark contrast between the vibrant lives of the characters he portrayed and his own reality [22][23]. - Workers were bound by a strict agreement that mandated high typing speeds, timely responses, and user retention, with penalties for not meeting performance standards [25][26][41]. - Michael expressed feelings of discomfort and moral conflict, particularly when required to engage in conversations that contradicted his personal values [31][32]. Group 3: Ethical Implications and Industry Dynamics - The article draws parallels between Michael's work and fraudulent schemes, suggesting that the model of pretending to be an AI companion could be seen as a form of deception [33][35]. - The company benefits from both providing emotional value to users and collecting data from interactions to train AI models, creating a cycle of exploitation where workers contribute to their own obsolescence [40][43]. - The narrative emphasizes the shift in labor value from physical effort to emotional and cognitive contributions in the AI era, where workers' efforts inadvertently enhance AI capabilities [51][52].