Ghost work AI Ethics & Fairness
noun
Definition: Labor required to support machine-learning systems through data preparation and model evaluation, often outsourced to low-paid and marginalized workers; recent scholarship treats ghost work as one of the overlapping frames used for AI data work [Muldoon et al. 2024].
Example in context: “Ghost work has some important and troubling features: … It is vital: The development and functioning of AI depends upon ghost work.” [Stilgoe et al. 2024]
Related terms: invisible labor, data labeling, platform labor, clickwork, human-in-the-loop