Finland’s Social Democrats have approved new legislation aimed at protecting the rights of AI’s often unseen workforce, including data annotators, AI trainers and content moderators.

Adopted at the party’s congress in late May, the resolution highlights the extent to which modern AI systems rely on a largely outsourced workforce in the Global South.

Millions of workers are employed to label data, train algorithms and moderate online content, yet many receive extremely low wages, are exposed to psychologically harmful material, have limited opportunities to organise collectively, and are not formally recognised as employees by the technology companies that rely on their labour.

According to the resolution: “Without their labour, AI would not exist. The Copilot, ChatGPT and equivalent systems used in Finnish workplaces would not function. Yet the work of these coal miners of the 21st century remains invisible.”

“The discussion around AI focuses so much on how it is used that we lose sight of how it is produced. The jobs that make AI possible are difficult, precarious, low-paid and high-pressure. We welcome this resolution as a necessary step towards recognising the rights of data enrichment workers and establishing rules that keep Big Tech in line,” said Christy Hoffman, UNI Global Union General Secretary.