Advances in AI and emerging technologies are fuelling changes in Africa’s gig economy. At its core are data annotators and platform workers in countries, who perform the crucial work that underpins global AI development.
Yet, these essential human contributors operate under precarious conditions, facing job insecurity and limited protections because existing employment laws are not tailored for digital labour. This research report reflects on the human component of the AI value chain by considering labour that goes into the making on AI, further, reflecting on the place of regulation i.e. labour laws in offering protections for such workers, thereby drawing the connection between how existing laws are being shaped by the changes AI and technology have made in the context of labour.
The report takes a keen focus on Kenya complemented by reflections from Nigeria in understanding the nature of work, the plight of workers (particularly, data annotators, content moderators and platform workers) and the existing channels of recourse further complemented exploring laws in other jurisdictions such as the EU. The report presents the urgent need for comprehensive policy and legal reform across the continent to ensure the different facets of AI influence across different sectors, in this case labour, further drawing us to reflect on the components that go towards building responsible and ethical AI governance structures as we consider the human component in the AI value chain.
