AI company Samasource is advocating a human-in-the-loop, model that requires human involvement ... [+] with its advanced technology.

Whenever new technologies change the way we work, some worry that their jobs are in jeopardy. And sometimes, new technologies do make certain jobs obsolete. Artificial intelligence is an emerging force in the business world that has the potential to either replace humans in certain industries or empower humans with better tools, depending on how the technology is utilized. And in the high-unemployment COVID era when the terms outsourcing and AI stoke fears for workforce stability and opportunity, there needs to be a more human-centered approach to workforce training and development.

Samasource, a training data and validation company based in San Francisco, believes AI can enhance how we work and is advocating for human-in-the-loop, a work model that requires human involvement even with advanced technology. It's really this combination of human and artificial intelligence, or human-in-the-loop and machine learning, that will allow us to bring best-in-class technology to solve the world's most pressing challenges, says Heather Gadonniex, the VP of Marketing & Strategic Partnerships at Samasource.

I spoke with Gadonniexas part of my research on purpose-driven businessand to learn about how Samasource is using its advanced technology to enhance human-centered work and provide job opportunities to marginalized communities. Samasource is a Certified B Corporation, a company that has met certain social and environmental standards as verified by the nonprofit B Lab.

Christopher Marquis: Some people worry that artificial intelligence will ultimately replace humans in the workforce. How is Samasource ensuring that AI is used to enhance human-centered work and not fully replace it?

Heather Gadonniex, VP of Marketing & Strategic Partnerships at Samasource.

Heather Gadonniex: Our philosophy is to use artificial intelligence to power and empower the human workforce. We firmly believe in up-skilling. We firmly believe in cross-skilling. And we firmly believe that artificial intelligence, or machine learning, is not necessarily going to negate the need for human involvement but will simply remove more mundane tasks from day-to-day workloads so that humans can focus on tasks that require higher cognition and focus on higher value areas of work.

It's really this combination of human and artificial intelligence, or human-in-the-loop and machine learning, that will allow us to bring best-in-class technology to solve the world's most pressing challenges. And in my opinion, we have enough challenges that need to be solved that we shouldn't shy away from using the power of technology to do that.

We're really embracing, advocating for, and being a voice in the market for this combination of machine intelligence and human intelligence, and at the same time ensuring that there is up-skilling and that there is cross-skilling. Because without that, you don't really have the ability to create environments or workplaces where people are learning the new skills they need to thrive in the next digital economy, or in today's digital economy even. That's really how we perceive this conflict between human and machine, if you will less of a conflict and more of a collaboration.

Marquis: Can you share examples of up-skilling? What does that look like in practice?

Gadonniex: We have a very robust education program internally, called SamaU. So we use a combination of technology platforms plus face-to-face training, and we provide basic digital skills to get people familiarized with working in the digital economy. Because the majority of the workforce that we employ have never had a formal job before they are working in areas that are typically not exposed to the digital economy. For most of them, this is their first full time job that pays living wages. And that, in and of itself, has the power to transform economies, not just lives but full economies.

So, we provide our workers with basic digital skills, and then from there we actually provide ongoing training around topics that focus on machine learning, general artificial intelligence, and soft skills as well, like: How do you manage your finances? How do you become a better boss? How do you work in a professional environment? Many of them have never had the opportunity to learn how to actually manage a paycheck. Oftentimes, they've never even had a steady paycheck. So that soft skill training is equally important to the digital up-skilling and the technology skill training.

We also just completed a randomized control trial with MIT to validate the efficacy of this model. People who received training and employment at Samasource reported 10% lower unemployment rates and wages that are, on average, more than 25% higher than our control group. Our up-skilling programs, our full-time employment programs, and paying living wages had a particularly significant effect on women who received earnings 30% higher than the control group. If you look at economic development as a whole, that is so powerful.

Marquis: How has your business adapted during COVID? And do you have any recommendations for other businesses looking to adapt to these challenges?

Gadonniex: We launched multiple initiatives through 2020 to ensure our employees were able to safely maintain their jobs and continued to deliver the secure, high quality training data that we're known for in the midst of this pandemic. Business continuity was extremely high on the priority list of our customers, especially during the start of COVID. And I think that that makes total sense given the situation.

To ensure continuity, we create a program called Samahome, a partnership between Samasource and local hotels in Kenya and Uganda. We enabled our employees to work in safe environments during the height of the pandemic in these live-work arrangements.

Our team members could opt in to live and work at Samahome. Before they entered the Samahome, everyone was checked to make sure they were healthy. We conducted ongoing health checks, practiced social distancing, and ensured that there were sanitization measures in place.

We recently launched our work-from-home initiative, which actually provides our employees with the necessary resources to effectively work from home. We also have a few teams that are starting to work from our secured delivery centers again, and we're continuing to transition back for certain teams while maintaining social distancing protocols and health checks. The pandemic shifted our business model, so we are exploring maintaining a work-from-home model because this allows us to expand the amount of opportunity that we can provide to the communities in which we operate.

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AI Technology Can Enhance Human-Centered Work Instead Of Threaten It - Forbes