08/20 - Artificial Intelligence Monday!

[Achilles2357]

I gotta quote this, too (took a minute to read through). There is no magic money button for mturk. Hard work and smart work will always result in a better daily than simple reliance on any one script.

That said, scripted tools for crowdwork are more sophisticated today than they were a year ago, and a year from now they will be more sophisticated than they are today. It is the nature of the work, and you either keep up or give up. Tbh if you start doing this work and you find you like scripting, customizing, working w/ web pages, you are waaaaay better off in the long run learning how to code in some Javascript frameworks or Python than turking. Figure out how turking can fit into your proactive, long-term goals, not your short-term reactive life.

And while you're at it pls find me another 4 hours in every day because I am behind on my damn IT and Python studies this summer...

"That said, scripted tools for crowdwork are more sophisticated today than they were a year ago, and a year from now they will be more sophisticated than they are today."
I think this is very true, and far more important than most people recognize, since in the long run it makes "crowdwork" far more viable. It is far from clear to me that even Mr. Bezos has fully grasped this, although he is obviously killing it in other realms. (What I mean is that the continuing recognition that better and better tools are possible in "crowdwork" is going to draw more and more people in, and people will be able to find their level, and work to improve their level... that is pretty much the way it is right now, but many don't realize it...)

 

[TotalBabe]

With all the discussion going on today about people abandoning MTC and how different MTC is now...

I have to point out that you were one of the first people I that really stood out to me on MTC when I first joined 2.5 years ago, because you were always very kind and would post delightful posts late at night, just like this one.

You're so kind to say that, and I appreciate the compliment.

I can be a bit businesslike sometimes, but I try to give people a laugh here and there.

@TotalBabe is a @TotalBabe

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[basketcasey]

what staff?

all staff are gone.

Jaded's getting a job?
Electrolyte contributes in bullshit articles that claim bots are running rampant on Turk and people only make pennies on the platform.
Ave/Kryss are living their lives.

Doubt the mods have any interest of buying and maintaining the forum

I ignore most of the forum, the daily thread is a mix of the 30 cool, interesting, entertaining people that were here when I started and /r/mTurk

It just sucks that this place isn't what it used to be

obligatory:

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Pretty much my point and sentiments.

Also, I’m irreverent as they come, but there’s only so many boner and fart jokes I can take.

Love MTC, no plans on leaving, just late night musings and nostalgia, I suppose.

And your block list is the stuff of legends, my panda friend.

 

[Achilles2357]

Apropos of nothing...

 

[jklmnop]

"That said, scripted tools for crowdwork are more sophisticated today than they were a year ago, and a year from now they will be more sophisticated than they are today."
I think this is very true, and far more important than most people recognize, since in the long run it makes "crowdwork" far more viable. It is far from clear to me that even Mr. Bezos has fully grasped this, although he is obviously killing it in other realms. (What I mean is that the continuing recognition that better and better tools are possible in "crowdwork" is going to draw more and more people in, and people will be able to find their level, and work to improve their level... that is pretty much the way it is right now, but many don't realize it...)

That's certainly possible, but without a wage floor, it is increasingly likely (imo) that the online marketplace for work will split into two: highly-skilled workers doing tasks that can't be automated/MLed, and then workers in the developing world being paid wages that would be unsustainable in the US. We're already seeing this now with the proliferation of crowdwork platforms (for specialized/skilled labor) and the race to create successful autonomous vehicles (for everything else). Companies are creating entire workforces overseas and paying them peanuts. These jobs will never be available to American workers because the companies have decided they don't have to pay more than $1-2/hr for the work (for things like image annotation). Edit to add - the middle ground that your garden variety, general-purpose turker inhabits right now will probably be gone in a few years, replaced by platform and work specialization.

The better tools? They're being used to bridge the technological divide that to this point has prevented such outsourcing. They're being used to service that $1-2/hr workforce, not to make things ANY better here. They will not be used for good. Anyone who doesn't see a role for themselves in that "highly-skilled" bracket should start figuring out one, now.

 

[jklmnop]

Also, I’m irreverent as they come, but there’s only so many boner and fart jokes I can take.

also qfmft

 

[Achilles2357]

That's certainly possible, but without a wage floor, it is increasingly likely (imo) that the online marketplace for work will split into two: highly-skilled workers doing tasks that can't be automated/MLed, and then workers in the developing world being paid wages that would be unsustainable in the US. We're already seeing this now with the proliferation of crowdwork platforms (for specialized/skilled labor) and the race to create successful autonomous vehicles (for everything else). Companies are creating entire workforces overseas and paying them peanuts. These jobs will never be available to American workers because the companies have decided they don't have to pay more than $1-2/hr for the work (for things like image annotation). Edit to add - the middle ground that your garden variety, general-purpose turker inhabits right now will probably be gone in a few years, replaced by platform and work specialization.

The better tools? They're being used to bridge the technological divide that to this point has prevented such outsourcing. They're being used to service that $1-2/hr workforce, not to make things ANY better here. They will not be used for good. Anyone who doesn't see a role for themselves in that "highly-skilled" bracket should start figuring out one, now.

I think you are raising the issues that need to be debated at length, but they are not. We are about to lose this daily thread and to veer too much into politics for the thread, so I'll try to be precise: I think that the pool of potentially highly skilled workers who in some sense actively reject "credentialism" and the "W-2" lifestyle is only going to increase. But this is a very, very complex issue.

 

[jklmnop]

I think you are raising the issues that need to be debated at length, but they are not. We are about to lose this daily thread and to veer too much into politics for the thread, so I'll try to be precise: I think that the pool of potentially highly skilled workers who in some sense actively reject "credentialism" and the "W-2" lifestyle is only going to increase. But this is a very, very complex issue.

Would a thread about the future of work be valuable to everyone? Some place to discuss these issues without taking up space in the daily or bringing it to the politics thread which I understand some may want to avoid? Do we have a thread for this already?

 

[Achilles2357]

Would a thread about the future of work be valuable to everyone? Some place to discuss these issues without taking up space in the daily or bringing it to the politics thread which I understand some may want to avoid? Do we have a thread for this already?

Very interesting to me!

 

[jklmnop]

new thread here y'all https://www.mturkcrowd.com/threads/08-21-tensorflow-tuesday.3758/