Exploring the Ethics of AI: OpenAI's Controversial Data Annotation Practices in Kenya

November 1, 2021

An investigation uncovered allegations that Sama AI, an OpenAI contractor in Kenya, asked workers to annotate a high volume of graphic content at exploitative wages for the improvement of systems like ChatGPT. This incident highlights the need for responsible AI governance and raises concerns about safe and secure AI practices. Ready to help shape responsible AI? JOIN US This AI incident maps to the Govern function in HISPI Project Cerebellum Trusted AI Model (TAIM).
Alleged deployer
openai
Alleged developer
openai
Alleged harmed parties
kenyan-sama-ai-employees

Source

Data from the AI Incident Database (AIID). Cite this incident: https://incidentdatabase.ai/cite/450

Data source

Incident data is from the AI Incident Database (AIID).

When citing the database as a whole, please use:

McGregor, S. (2021) Preventing Repeated Real World AI Failures by Cataloging Incidents: The AI Incident Database. In Proceedings of the Thirty-Third Annual Conference on Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence (IAAI-21). Virtual Conference.

Pre-print on arXiv · Database snapshots & citation guide

We use weekly snapshots of the AIID for stable reference. For the official suggested citation of a specific incident, use the “Cite this incident” link on each incident page.