AI “Companion Bots” Actually Run by Exploited Kenyans, Worker Claims

"How do you explain that you get paid to tell strangers you love them while your real family sleeps three meters away?"

https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-companion-chatbots-kenya

#AI #Africa #GlobalSouth #GigWork

Cần bạn tham gia khảo sát 5 phút từ dự án sinh viên về công việc tự do và startup kỹ năng! Ý kiến của bạn sẽ góp phần xây dựng nền tảng bán hàng linh hoạt hỗ trợ AI (gợi ý mô hình đào tạo, gamification...). Đóng góp ngay để hỗ trợ phát triển dự án nhé! #NghiênCứu #NghềNghiệp #KhảoSátMáyLạnh #StartUp #AI #CôngNghiệp40 #Research #GigWork #SideHustle #StudentProject #AIPowered

https://www.reddit.com/r/SideProject/comments/1pkpv2u/survey_student_project/

I'd be happy to work for cheap on any paid projects while I look for a job -- provided they fit my skillset. I'm great with Python and machine learning, I've worked on ML research and developed novel ML algorithms, and I also have tons of experience working with automated file transfers, databases, automated Excel reporting, and probably other things you may find useful. Just ask! I take pride in doing quality work, and I'm a really clever monkey. :)

#Jobs #MachineLearning #JobOpportunities #Python #ETL #ResearchJobs #AI #Algorithms #FediHire #FediHired #GetFediHired #GetFediBHired #GigWork

Spreadsheets!!!
Filled in my #dasher tracking sheet today and added a chart!

This one shows most of the stores I've got orders from since I started tracking that more closely in March. (there is a 'long tail' of <5 orders on the right that is not included in the picture.)

No big surprises for me in here. McDs and Dairy Queen are the 'bread and butter' locations. Other good performers pop up as the number of orders declines including NoodleBox, Boston Pizza, and Walmart.

Little Valley and Panago are good ones on the less frequent side.

7-11 is frequent, but pay is terrible.

“Walmart SFS" is their package delivery vs. grocery. It's an anomaly. It does not allow tips, and the orders are generally 5-10 packages at a time per offer which is why it has the most orders, but the very little cash.

I'm also always considering these numbers geographically... as in, where is the best place to stage myself for the most pay. There is a 'north' and 'south' side of town and It's not a clear choice.

#PortAlberni #DasherLife #DoorDash #Uber #GigWork #Charts #Data #Spreadsheet #AppleNumbers

My son has a nascent photography business. He's talented and something may actually come of it. Right now he's storing all of his raw and processed images on our family NAS, which means they're being backed up nightly into the cloud. I just calculated that they're currently about $2 of our monthly backup storage cost, and slowly growing.
Do I charge his business for the storage?
#parenting #finance #gigWork

Obviously, #NorthKorea knows how to use the #GigWork-based #Enshittification of not just #IT but also other #Jobs.

• And no, forcing people into #cubicles won't solve this problem!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7x0gvfFa0Q

Supreme Court rules #Uber drivers are employees in #NewZealand, opening door for #SickLeave, #HolidayPay, and #MinimumWage. #Gig companies warn of collapse if forced to pay decent wage.

https://www.thepost.co.nz/business/360888599/end-road-uber-appeals-after-top-court-rules-drivers-should-be-treated-employees

#union #unions #GigWork #Wellington #KatherineRich #EmmaFoley #WorkersFirst #capitalism #exploitation #ClassWar #corruption

Door Dasher Life Fun Facts: This might be useful to think of when you're rating your Dasher.... Who's at fault in this situation?

Let's say I accept an offer for McDonalds.
I head straight there... pull up to the store, and as I walk in the app buzzes again with a 2nd order for the same McDs.

Naturally, I accept. (not accepting reduces my Acceptance rate and potentially my ability to get new offers).

Now I have two orders at the same place! Great! Efficient!

The first order comes up quickly, I put it in my bag, 'pick it up' in the app, and wait for the 2nd order.

Now the fun begins. The restaurant says the 2nd order will be 10 minutes beyond the pickup time. I notify the app, and both customers of the wait... and I wait... and wait... if I remove the 2nd order from my app it affects my completion rate *and* means the customer has to wait for another dasher to come along.

Eventually the 2nd order is ready and I head out to make the deliveries. Both of course now late.. the first potentially cold (even in an insulated bag) *and* late.

In addition, sometimes, often a day or two later, the dasher will receive a “Contract Violation” for the lateness. 3 Contract Violations in a short period and you can be deactivated.

So... there ya go. It happens. I'm never sure what the best course of action is... unless both orders are immediately ready, which you can never predict, someone will end up losing; the store, customer, dasher, or a mix of all three.

#DasherLife #GigWork #DoorDash #Uber

P.S. It's worth noting that Door Dash is the only service I know of that is this strict. Uber Eats does not have mechanisms like this (at least in my experience). Never used Skip, so can't say on that.

I wonder what regulatory pressure might have been involved here. DoorDash's Crimson Card (their debit card where they instantly send payouts) has always been a pain in the ass to move money out of, having to wait several days in order to do so. I always figured it was so that they could mine the data from your purchases, knowing that many dashers can't afford to wait several days to put money in their own account and they'll instead have to use the Crimson Card. The conspiracy theorist in me believes that they track your gas purchases on the card and give you shittier offers when they think your tank is full, betting that you'll be more likely to take those bad offers on a full tank than a near-empty one.

Well, now, for a two dollar fee, you can immediately move your own damn money into your own damn account instantly, where DoorDash can't see what you do with it.

Finally.

#doordash #dasher #GigWork #GigEconomy

Meanwhile, in the #BadEconomy, #journalism edition.

> Patron-Supported Journalism Can’t Be the Future of News by Ana Marie Cox.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/tpm-25/patron-supported-journalism-cant-be-the-future-of-news

#GigWork #freelance #writing #news #exploitation #corruption #SocialMedia

Who will own the future of gig work?

In this month's episode of Looks Like New, MEDlab Associate Director Júlia Martins speaks with Minsun Ji, Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center, about empowering workers to reclaim control over their economic futures.
Available now on Lookslikenew.net

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Y8jLIjtVghU6mnTr2bpTt?si=0aa9e4a1bf1f4e42&nd=1&dlsi=db7099749a7448b0

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/looks-like-new/id1451526347

#MEDlab #coop #Gigwork

Who will own the future of gig work?

https://lookslikenew.net/podcast/who-will-own-the-future-of-gig-work/

#Coop #Future #Gigwork #MEDLab #Tech

A video: “Ordering with apps: Why gig workers are suffering”

Having food delivered through the tap of an app is part of everyday life. Even care workers can be gig workers now. Algorithms decide who gets the job. What does this mean for the labor market and consumers? #Technology #dwdigital #gigwork #careworkers #App #Deliverydrivers #Drivingwork #Uber Here are some timestamped highlights from the video: The Gig Economy and its Challenges…

https://erkansaka.net/2025/08/14/gig-economy-app-workers-rights/

#DoorDashLife

It's hot. The orders are backed up... but at least the hatch is big enough to have a quick snooze. 😆 😴

edit: ended up unassigning, the Walmart folks said they were 150 orders behind on the day. 😬 😆
#gigwork #gigEconomy #doorDash #PortAlberni #walmart

Just #SurveillanceCapitalism things. Absolute creep behaviour. And this is why I try hard not to actually use the Crimson card and just transfer money to my debit card ASAP instead. Because knowing #DoorDash, they'll track when you top off your tank and skew you towards shitty offers, knowing you might be more apt to take them at the top of the tank than the bottom. #gigwork #GigWorker #surveillance #capitalism

#GigWork ist Bezahlung pro Auftrag – meistens als Freiberufler:in und mit einem Lohn, der unter dem Branchendurchschnitt liegt. Über Gig-Work-Plattformen und digitale Arbeitswelt spricht Barbara Orth vom @IRSErkner in der neuesten Folge #TonspurWissen.

Jetzt reinhören: https://podfollow.com/tonspurwissen/episode/4ff99b62205af44d63127810021b7c47c5308bef/view

#podcast

@foreverandaday That's exactly what it is. You have to do 100 deliveries within the past 30 days, *and* accept 70% of the offers they give to you, in order to keep platinum status. In theory, platinum gives you "first dibs" on good offers. In practice, no the fuck it doesn't. #DoorDash #GigWork

TEN WHOLE NUGGETS? #DoorDash #McDonalds #GigWork

Consider providing accurate promise times, #DoorDash and #Chipotle. And if *y'all* miss *y'all's* promise times, then *y'all* inform the customer. I ain't your CSR. I'm the courier. #gigwork

Did a route ending way out in Lake St Louis, grabbed an order on the way home in MO'Fallon that turned out to be 2 BBQ grills, was fun stuffing those into a Chevy Bolt. Delivered those, grabbed a RX order in St Chas, and on the way saw a prescription order, $80 for 79 miles. ●grabby paws... slaps self● No touchee, 103 miles of range, that will drop on the highway, it's rush hour, there's no chargers out there, and we still have 9 miles on this order.

#today #work #gigwork #STL #deliveries