There is a gray area in artificial intelligence, filled with millions of people working in secret: they are often hired to train algorithms, but ultimately perform much of their work.
These essential workers were thrust into the spotlight this week when The Information reported that Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology, which allowed customers to grab groceries from a shelf and walk out of the store, was being removed from grocery stores. It relied in part on more than 1,000 people in India watching and tagging videos to ensure the checkouts were correct.
Amazon says on its website that Just Walk Out uses “computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning” but does not name any contractors. The company told Gizmodo that employees annotated videos to help improve them and validated a “small minority.” of store visits where the AI was unable to determine a purchase.
