Digest Issue 76: The hidden Kenyan workers training China’s AI models | How to Rethink Regulation with Prosocial Design | Public deliberation can’t be an afterthought in AI governance
Curated collection of grey literature on the interactions between technology and society
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For this issue, I included the Distroid Curation Algorithm (DCA) score for each Work.1
I hope you find this issue helpful and insightful.
Digest
The hidden Kenyan workers training China’s AI models
Date: 2025-12-04
Contributor: Damilare Dosunmu; Tessie Waithira
Sentiment: Neutral
Subjectivity: Objective
Technology Futures: TBA
DCKG ID: uGsG8CDuMyRCPN8UoNPMQE
DCA Score: 18.0
Description
An unemployment crisis has created fertile ground for companies to step in with opaque systems built on WhatsApp groups, middlemen, and bargain-basement wages.
Summary
Rest of World reached out to some of China’s largest AI companies to inquire if they outsource data labeling work to Kenya and how they connect with workers in the country, but did not receive responses. Screenshots and chat logs reviewed by Rest of World show that the WhatsApp groups work like digital factory floors: daily rankings, production charts, motivational messages, and reminders to push harder. In 2023, Rest of World reported how Chinese companies employed vast armies of low-wage data annotators, often recruited from vocational schools or routed through “inland-sourced” labeling centers in poorer provinces like Gansu, Guizhou, and Henan to keep costs low and scale quickly.
How to Rethink Regulation with Prosocial Design
Date: 2025-11-21
Contributor: Tech; Social Cohesion
Sentiment: Neutral
Subjectivity: Objective
Technology Futures: TBA
DCKG ID: gMxY5D7w34nbwqqxP3mGFi
DCA Score: 16.0
Description
A practical new guide equips regulators and civil society to shape healthier digital spaces through a focus on design and user experiences.
Public deliberation can’t be an afterthought in AI governance
Date: 2025-12-04
Contributor: DemocracyNext; Claudia Chwalisz
Sentiment: Neutral
Subjectivity: Objective
Technology Futures: TBA
DCKG ID: iLLiTGdBR5vdau2SZtBRgd
DCA Score: 16.0
Description
Read key insights from Claudia Chwalisz’s recent address at the FARI AI Conference in Brussels
Summary
Claudia opened her remarks at this year’s FARI (AI for the Common Good Institute - Brussels) conference with this quote by physicist Richard Feynman in 1955, reflecting on the atomic bomb. Digital-only formats, narrow samples, filtering out people without AI knowledge, and unclear impact fall short of established democratic standards. Public repositories, Wikipedia, academic archives, and government portals are now scraped at scale to train large AI models controlled by a few corporations.
👋 Introducing Roundabout: built for neighbors, with neighbors
Date: 2025-11-30
Contributor: Hays Witt; Josh Kramer
Sentiment: Neutral
Subjectivity: Objective
Technology Futures: Plurality
DCKG ID: oXeYzySKaNSbiTAUhRCj4m
DCA Score: 15.0
Description
New_ Public’s app for local communities enters closed beta in five pilot communities
Summary
Since then, we’ve deeply explored local digital spaces, including Front Porch Forum’s inspiring example of what’s possible, and grim reminders of how the status quo is not sufficient with platforms like Nextdoor. Roundabout is for building real relationships with people who actually live, work, and play in your community through trusted information sharing, genuine conversations, and mutual support, not posts competing for likes and virality. Katie-Beth wants Roundabout to be “welcoming, engaging, disarming, inclusive.” Suzi wants people to “share your blessings with others” and find places to “flourish.” These won’t be sterile information exchanges — they’re meant to be spaces that feel like the best parts of local life.
The Excuse and The Paradox of AI Mass Layoffs
Date: 2025-12-02
Contributor: Cristina
Sentiment: Neutral
Subjectivity: Neutral
Technology Futures: TBA
DCKG ID: zmMsv6HWrkBAr5nJUaCfxF
DCA Score: 16.0
Description
They’re firing tens of thousands and pointing to AI as the reason, maybe that’s just a convenient excuse. But here’s the problem: if they keep laying off people, who’s going to buy their products?
Summary
Tech giants from HP to Amazon, Microsoft to Meta, are slashing thousands of jobs while pouring billions into AI initiatives, all in the name of “efficiency” and “productivity.” And this is just the tip of the iceberg. The advantage is clear, rather than admitting to over hiring or miscalculating growth projections, companies can now blame it to AI and frame layoffs as part of an innovative transformation. Companies that will eventually thrive are those using AI to support people, not replace them, understanding that employed workers with stable incomes aren’t just costs to minimize, but customers who drive revenue and markets that sustain business itself.
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In the future, I may use the DCA score to select Works for the Distroid Digest or create a DCA-only version of the Digest.