It’s important to note that the process is not without human cost. Low-paid workers around the world are recruited to read and rate AI replies, but, in doing so, are exposed to exactly the sort of content that AI companies don’t want the world to see. Working under difficult deadlines, some workers have discussed how they were traumatized by a steady stream of graphic and violent outputs that they had to read and rate. In trying to get AIs to act ethically, these companies pushed the ethical boundaries with their own contract workers.