‘It’s Undignified’: Hundreds of Workers Training Meta’s AI Could Be Laid Off
‘It’s Undignified’: Hundreds of Workers Training Meta’s AI Could Be Laid Off
“这太没尊严了”：数百名负责训练 Meta AI 的员工面临裁员
Hundreds of workers in Ireland tasked with refining Meta’s AI models have been told that their jobs are at risk as the company embarks on a sweeping new round of layoffs, according to documents obtained by WIRED. 根据《连线》（WIRED）杂志获得的文件显示，爱尔兰数百名负责优化 Meta AI 模型的工作人员已被告知，随着该公司开启新一轮大规模裁员，他们的工作岗位岌岌可危。
The affected workers are employed by the Dublin-based firm Covalen, which handles various content moderation and labeling services for Meta. 受影响的员工受雇于总部位于都柏林的 Covalen 公司，该公司负责为 Meta 处理各种内容审核和标注服务。
The workers were informed of the layoffs over a brief video meeting on Monday afternoon and were not allowed to ask questions, according to Nick Bennett, one of the employees on the call. “We had a pretty bad feeling [before the meeting],” he says. “This has happened before.” 据参与此次视频会议的员工尼克·贝内特（Nick Bennett）称，员工们在周一下午的一次简短视频会议中被告知了裁员消息，且不允许提问。“（会议前）我们就有种很不好的预感，”他说，“这种情况以前也发生过。”
In all, more than 700 employees stand to potentially lose their jobs at Covalen, according to an email reviewed by WIRED. Roughly 500 are data annotators. Their job is to check material generated by Meta’s AI models against the company’s rules barring dangerous and illegal content. “It’s essentially training the AI to take over our jobs,” claims another Covalen employee, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. “We take actions as the perfect decision for the AI to emulate.” 根据《连线》查阅的一封电子邮件，Covalen 总共有超过 700 名员工可能面临失业，其中约 500 人是数据标注员。他们的工作是根据 Meta 禁止危险和非法内容的规定，检查其 AI 模型生成的内容。“这本质上是在训练 AI 来取代我们的工作，”另一位因担心遭到报复而要求匿名的 Covalen 员工表示，“我们所采取的行动，就是 AI 要模仿的‘完美决策’。”
Sometimes, the work involves cooking up elaborate prompts to try to bypass guardrails meant to prevent models from serving up child sexual abuse material, say, or descriptions of suicide. “It’s quite a grueling job,” claims Bennett. “You spend your whole day pretending to be a pedophile.” 有时，这项工作涉及编写复杂的提示词，试图绕过旨在防止模型输出儿童性虐待材料或自杀描述等内容的防护栏。“这是一项非常折磨人的工作，”贝内特说，“你整天都在假装自己是一个恋童癖。”
Last week, Meta announced plans to cut one in 10 jobs as part of sweeping layoffs aimed at making the company more efficient. A memo circulated by the company reportedly indicated that layoffs were motivated by a need to increase spending on other aspects of the business. Though the memo did not mention AI, the company recently announced plans to nearly double its spending on the technology. In January, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “I think that 2026 is going to be the year that AI starts to dramatically change the way that we work.” In the email reviewed by WIRED, Covalen employees were told only that the layoffs were a result of “reduced demand and operational requirements.” 上周，Meta 宣布计划裁减十分之一的员工，作为旨在提高公司效率的大规模裁员计划的一部分。据报道，该公司传阅的一份备忘录显示，裁员的动机是需要增加在业务其他方面的支出。尽管备忘录中未提及 AI，但该公司最近宣布计划将 AI 技术支出增加近一倍。今年 1 月，Meta 首席执行官马克·扎克伯格曾表示：“我认为 2026 年将是 AI 开始彻底改变我们工作方式的一年。”在《连线》查阅的邮件中，Covalen 员工仅被告知裁员是由于“需求减少和运营需求”所致。
In a statement, Meta spokesperson Erica Sackin said: “As we shared in March, over the next few years, Meta will be deploying more advanced AI systems to transform our approach to content enforcement and operations across our platforms, so that it delivers the safety and protection people expect. As we do that, we’ll be reducing our reliance on third-party vendors and strengthening our internal systems.” Meta 发言人埃里卡·萨金（Erica Sackin）在一份声明中表示：“正如我们在 3 月份所分享的那样，在未来几年内，Meta 将部署更先进的 AI 系统，以改变我们在各平台上的内容执行和运营方式，从而提供人们所期望的安全和保护。在此过程中，我们将减少对第三方供应商的依赖，并加强我们的内部系统。”
The latest round of layoffs marks the second time that Covalen has cut staff in recent months. In November, the company announced plans for job cuts (reportedly to number around 400), culminating in a worker strike. Between the two rounds of layoffs, Covalen’s headcount in Dublin is on track to be almost halved, according to the Communications Workers’ Union (CWU), whose members include some Covalen staff. 这是 Covalen 近几个月来第二次裁员。去年 11 月，该公司宣布了裁员计划（据报道约为 400 人），并最终引发了工人罢工。据成员包括部分 Covalen 员工的通信工会（CWU）称，在这两轮裁员之后，Covalen 在都柏林的员工人数预计将减少近一半。
For affected Covalen workers, the search for new work will be hampered by a six-month “cooldown period,” during which they are unable to apply to a competing Meta vendor, claims the CWU. “It’s undignified, you know,” says the Covalen employee who asked to remain anonymous. “It’s rude.” 据 CWU 称，对于受影响的 Covalen 员工来说，寻找新工作将受到六个月“冷静期”的阻碍，在此期间他们无法申请 Meta 的竞争供应商职位。“这太没尊严了，你知道吗，”那位要求匿名的 Covalen 员工说，“这很粗鲁。”
Covalen did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Covalen 未能立即回应置评请求。
Unions representing the affected employees are pushing for Covalen to enter negotiations over severance terms. They also hope to meet with the Irish government to discuss how AI is impacting workers in the country. “Tech companies are treating the workers whose labor and data helped build AI as disposable,” says Christy Hoffman, general secretary of UNI Global Union. “To fight back, it’s absolutely critical that workers organize and demand notice about the introduction of AI, training linked to employment, and a plan for their futures. Workers should also have the right to refuse to train their AI replacements.” 代表受影响员工的工会正在推动 Covalen 就遣散费条款进行谈判。他们还希望与爱尔兰政府会面，讨论 AI 如何影响该国工人。“科技公司正在将那些通过劳动和数据帮助构建了 AI 的员工视为一次性用品，”全球工会联盟（UNI Global Union）秘书长克里斯蒂·霍夫曼（Christy Hoffman）表示，“为了反击，工人们组织起来并要求在引入 AI 时获得通知、获得与就业挂钩的培训以及制定未来规划至关重要。工人们还应该有权拒绝训练取代他们的 AI。”
But some of those caught up in the layoffs are doubtful of their chances of securing stable employment in a labor market being rehewn in real time by AI and the deep-pocketed companies leading its development. “It’s a universal battle between downtrodden white-collar workers and big capital, really,” claims Bennett. “That normally only goes one way.” 但一些被裁员的员工对自己在当前劳动力市场中获得稳定就业的机会表示怀疑，因为这个市场正被 AI 和引领其发展的财力雄厚的公司实时重塑。“这实际上是受压迫的白领工人和大资本之间的一场普遍斗争，”贝内特说，“而这通常只有一种结果。”
Update 4/28/25 3:30pm ET: This story has been updated to include comment from Meta. 更新：2025 年 4 月 28 日下午 3:30（美东时间）：本文已更新，加入了 Meta 的评论。