Google Contract Workers, Training ChatGPT Rival Bard, Say They’re ‘overworked, underpaid and stressed’

As per the reports that surfaced in January, tech behemoth Google lost its sleep over OpenAI’s Chatbot, ChatGPT. Subsequent to the significant popularity it gained after the launch in November 2022, Google announced its own Chatbot called Bard, with ChatGPT-like features. The Chatbot was officially unveiled to the world in May during the Google I/O event. Lately, Bard got some significant changes indicating Google’s commitment to offer an improved version of its product to its users, as promised by CEO Sundar Pichai.

Reportedly, the people that are responsible for helping Google fulfil its commitment, i.e. training Bard to its full potential expressed displeasure with their working conditions. The Bloomberg report highlighted that the contract workers’ opened up about feeling ‘overworked, underpaid and stressed’ while reviewing Bard’s responses.

Reports indicate that Bard relies on human reviewers employed by Google to review its responses. However, these contract workers are reportedly dissatisfied with their working conditions, raising concerns about their well-being. The report highlights the experiences of six contract workers who claim that their workload and tasks became more demanding as Google entered a competitive race with OpenAI. These workers were responsible for reviewing answers across various subjects without receiving adequate training. The report also reveals that workers faced tight deadlines, sometimes as short as three minutes, to review Bard’s responses. These factors contribute to concerns about the working conditions faced by contract workers.

According to the report, one contractor described the current situation as leaving people scared, stressed, underpaid, and uncertain. The culture of fear is seen as detrimental to achieving desired quality and teamwork. In May, a Google contract worker expressed concerns in a letter to Congress, warning that Bard could become a flawed and risky product due to the contractors being required to review content within tight deadlines. The report further highlights that these contract workers receive wages as low as $14 per hour for their work.

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