The article titled “The Workers Behind AI Rarely See Its Rewards, This Indian Startup Wants to Fix That”, was published in Time Magazine, written by Billy Perrigo. The text explores the lives of data workers in India and Karya, an AI data startup. The startup captures, labels, and annotates data for clients, providing economic opportunities to rural Indians through voice recordings in native languages.
Through Karya, data workers are earning significantly higher wage per hour as compared to their usual jobs. The startup’s work also offers potential benefits for marginalized languages, allowing them to access AI advancements. Their focus on social impact aims to tackle the biases and ethical issues in the AI industry while providing tangible benefits to the underprivileged communities in India.
Karya partners with NGOs to provide job opportunities to economically disadvantaged communities, granting workers virtual ownership of their data. This model empowers workers by granting them additional income when resold, thereby advancing inclusive AI systems in India. Karya’s unique model distinguishes itself from competitors, empowering underprivileged communities and advancing inclusive AI systems.