I refused to train the AI that could replace me
A South African academic discusses the ethical dilemma of training AI models that are designed to automate his own profession. He highlights the socioeconomic pressure to accept low-wage data labeling work despite the long-term risk of job displacement.
Why it matters
It illustrates the growing tension between immediate economic survival and the long-term societal impact of AI-driven labor displacement.
AI companies are paying highly educated workers to teach machines the judgment they spent years developing — even when those systems could eventually replace them.
James Maisiri has a Ph.D. in industrial sociology from the University of Johannesburg.
After completing a Ph.D. earlier this year on technologies such as artificial intelligence reshaping agricultural work in South Africa, I was ready to start an academic career. I imagined that I would teach students, supervise research, and shape the next generation of scholars. But my first job offer did not come from a university. It was from a recruiter, who invited me to train an AI system to design assessments, teach undergraduate students, and mark essays. In short, I was being asked to transfer everything I had learned over the last decade to AI.
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