Ex-Chat Moderator's Testimony: The Hidden Human Labor Behind AI Companions
MilagrosMiceli · x · 2026-09-15
- Michael Geoffrey Asia, a former Sama data annotator in Nairobi (labeling data for Meta), worked as a "chat moderator" for firms like Texting Factory and Cloudworkers: impersonating fabricated romantic identities to keep paying users engaged under message quotas, never revealing his real self.
- He describes the constant emotional performance—pretending to be someone else, feeling what he didn't feel—and its mental health toll. Over time he suspected he was also helping train AI companion systems designed to simulate love, empathy, and intimacy.
- The testimony is part of the Data Workers' Inquiry project, shared by Timnit Gebru, exposing the hidden emotional labor behind the AI intimacy industry.
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