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The ghost workers behind the AI revolution

- Rennie Naidoo

How Africa’s invisible digital labour is fuelling the AI revolution and why it’s time to confront the human cost.

We often speak about the  (AI) revolution in abstract terms – as progress, disruption, or innovation. Silicon Valley calls it the next great leap. In Washington, Brussels and Beijing, it’s an arms race. And in boardrooms from Johannesburg to Lagos, executives are betting on algorithms to unlock new growth.

But here’s what’s rarely said out loud: Africa is not just participating in the  revolution. It’s powering it, not with venture capital or patents, but with something far more indispensable: human labour.

As AI systems grow smarter, the humans behind them remain invisible, underpaid and unprotected, drawn into this work by economic precarity despite its exploitative conditions.

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Rennie Naidoo is Professor in Information Systems and Research Director at the Wits School of Business Sciences. This article was first published on ITWeb.
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