TIME 100 AI Figure: Over 400M Shadow Workers Sustain the AI Industry
MilagrosMiceli · x · 2026-08-07
Milagros Miceli, named one of TIME's 100 most influential people in AI, revealed the massive hidden workforce behind the AI industry in an interview. She pointed out that between 400 and 430 million people worldwide work in data labeling, content moderation, and algorithm training—about 2% of the global population—often lacking basic labor rights and representation.
She criticized the tech sector's excessive hype around "fully autonomous AI," arguing that this narrative deliberately obscures the massive human labor required to keep the machines running. Tech giants sustain this model through information asymmetry, cheap labor exploitation, and financial bubbles. She emphasized that unionizing tech workers is revolutionary and crucial for securing representation for these marginalized workers.
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