AI's rise sparks new professions, reshapes employment landscape(2)

Digital 'gig' workers

This "data annotation" was originally handled by software engineers and programmers. However, as data-cleaning demands grew, they became overwhelmed, giving rise to "digital gig workers" in the AI field.

Annotators identify specific words in text or speech, outline items in images or videos, and tag them. For instance, in synonym training, annotators determine if two text segments are semantically identical and mark "yes" or "no". These tasks don't require high academic or professional qualifications, but do demand understanding, discernment, and meticulousness.

Sun Danfeng, a stay-at-home mom from Zhoukou, Henan province, works as a data annotator. Despite having only a junior high school education and no knowledge of AI, she has become an AI trainer.

"There are four to five hundred data annotation projects on the platform I registered on. Some are simple, like selecting a different image from three pictures, and others are more difficult," she said, adding the job is flexible as annotators can choose what they do and when and where they work, as long as the task is completed on time.

"It's very hard for a housewife who has no decent background in education to have a part-time job in a city like Zhoukou, or any non-mega cities," she said.

"However, for stay-at-home moms, having nothing to do after the kids go to school is really boring, and asking for money from their husband is unpleasant."

Sun learned about data annotation from her college student brother, when she spoke to him about feeling disconnected from society after becoming a full-time housewife. She lacked financial independence and struggled to find a job due to her limited education and the county's tight job market.

"This data annotation job is perfect for me," she said.

"Now, I can earn some pocket money in my spare time. I earn 1,000 to 2,000 yuan per month and am quite satisfied. My husband works in another city, and we have debts, so earning some extra money for the kids is good," she added.

In 2020, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security included data annotators on the national occupational classification list, giving the job official recognition.

In recent years, the market size of data annotation has grown significantly, and is estimated to reach 20.43 billion yuan by 2029, up from 4.33 billion yuan in 2021, according to the Huaon Industrial Research Institute. This speedy growth has spurred ever greater demand for data annotators.

However, Sun Ping, an associate researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, expressed concerns about the rapidly expanding market.

"Data annotation companies, mainly outsourcing tasks and operating in a labor intensive mode with low entry barriers, pose a risk of easy replacement for their workers, earning them the moniker the 'Internet's Foxconn'. Annotators are both AI trainers and 'job gravediggers'. When ultimate algorithms are developed, such a job may no longer be needed, leaving these workers once again unemployed," she said.