Uber正在利用其平台上的零工人员进军人工智能数据标注业务，将其独立承包商模式扩展到机器学习和大型语言模型领域。Uber的“Scaled Solutions”部门可以连接企业与数据分析师、测试人员和独立数据运营商，为其他公司提供数据标注、测试和本地化服务。这项业务扩展了Uber内部团队的工作，该团队此前负责新功能测试和将餐厅菜单转换为Uber Eats格式等任务。Uber此举表明其不仅利用人工智能和机器学习优化自身业务，还将其作为一项服务提供给其他公司，例如Aurora、Luma AI和Niantic等。

👍Uber通过其‘Scaled Solutions’部门将零工人员与企业连接，提供数据标注、测试和本地化服务，扩展其业务模式至人工智能领域。

🤝Uber已为Aurora、Luma AI和Niantic等公司提供AI数据标注等服务，表明其正在积极拓展该业务。

🌍Uber在加拿大、印度、波兰、尼加拉瓜和美国等国家招募零工人员，并根据任务类型和地区支付不同的报酬，旨在使AI模型更适应不同市场。

💰AI模型训练需要大量人力进行繁琐的任务，例如标注行人等，Uber招募的零工人员也承担类似的工作，例如评估AI生成代码的正确性，报酬较低。

⚠️Uber曾花费数十亿美元研发自动驾驶汽车，但最终因事故而停止该项目，此次进军AI数据标注业务也需谨慎应对潜在风险。

Uber is using gig workers to get into the AI labeling business, Bloomberg reports. It’s a sign that the ridehail and delivery company is interested in expanding its independent contractor-powered business model to meet the demands of the fast-growing world of machine learning and large-language models.

The company’s new “Scaled Solutions” division claims it can connect businesses to “nuanced analysts, testers, and independent data operators” using its platform. It’s an extension of an internal team with members based in the US and India that do new feature testing and other tasks like converting restaurant menus to Uber Eats selections.

Uber was already using artificial intelligence and machine learning for its own business and is now making that available to others for a fee. The company is hiring gig workers for data labeling, testing, and localization for other companies, including Aurora, Luma AI, and Niantic.

A big behind-the-scenes reality of AI model training is that it requires many human workers to do tedious tasks such as selecting the most human-sounding chatbot results or labeling obstacles like pedestrians in self-driving car footage frame-by-frame.

Companies building AI models often hire workers in developing countries to do these tasks and pay small amounts per exercise. One engineer in India told Bloomberg they were tasked with comparing and rating the correctness of AI-generated responses to complex coding problems, and were paid 200 rupees per set, or about $2.37.

Uber is currently signing up people from Canada, India, Poland, Nicaragua, and the US, paying different amounts per completed task with earnings issued to workers monthly. It’s also looking for people with different cultural backgrounds to help make AI more adaptable in various markets.

This isn’t Uber’s first dalliance with AI. The company spent billions on developing its own self-driving cars — only to shut the whole operation down after one of its vehicles killed a pedestrian. In 2016, Uber also acquired its own AI research lab founded by cognitive scientists Gary Marcus and several other computer science professors.