Data Enrichment Work and AI Labor in Latin America and the Caribbean
This work addresses a gap in understanding crowdwork perspectives in Latin America and the Caribbean, offering insights for HCI and digital tools in the region.
The study surveyed 100 crowdworkers across 16 Latin American and Caribbean countries to address a research gap, finding that workers take pride in their labor and see it as a path to independence, but also experience isolation and resist certain collaborative tools.
The global AI surge demands crowdworkers from diverse languages and cultures. They are pivotal in labeling data for enabling global AI systems. Despite global significance, research has primarily focused on understanding the perspectives and experiences of US and India crowdworkers, leaving a notable gap. To bridge this, we conducted a survey with 100 crowdworkers across 16 Latin American and Caribbean countries. We discovered that these workers exhibited pride and respect for their digital labor, with strong support and admiration from their families. Notably, crowd work was also seen as a stepping stone to financial and professional independence. Surprisingly, despite wanting more connection, these workers also felt isolated from peers and doubtful of others' labor quality. They resisted collaboration and gender-based tools, valuing gender-neutrality. Our work advances HCI understanding of Latin American and Caribbean crowdwork, offering insights for digital resistance tools for the region.