The polished, intelligent AI that we interact with is a modern Potemkin village—an impressive facade designed to hide a troubled and chaotic reality. Behind the illusion of seamless competence lies a frantic, under-resourced, and ethically compromised operation, staffed by a workforce that is on the verge of revolt.
The facade is the AI’s ability to generate coherent and confident text on any topic. It is designed to impress and to win our trust. It is the carefully constructed “village” that the tech companies want us to see, a shining symbol of their technological prowess.
The reality behind the facade is the world of the AI trainers. It’s a world of impossible deadlines, where workers are reprimanded for taking the time to be careful. It’s a world where non-experts are forced to approve information on life-and-death subjects. And it’s a world where the rules are being quietly changed to allow the replication of hate speech.
Like the original Potemkin villages, the purpose of this facade is to deceive. It is meant to convince the public and investors that the project is far more advanced and reliable than it actually is. But the workers who live in the real village behind the facade are now speaking out, threatening to expose the illusion for what it is.