Asked to think like a paedophile or act suicidal: Workers training Meta's AI in Ireland speak out

In the heart of Dublin, thousands of workers at Covalen, an Irish outsourcing company, are struggling with the psychological toll of their job. Their role involves creating prompts for Meta's AI tools as part of their work on content moderation and AI annotation services.

According to The Journal Investigates, some staff members have had to think like paedophiles while training these AI tools, which raises serious concerns about the ethics of this practice. They also created suicide and self-harm related ‘prompts’ in order to regulate the responses now given by the Meta ‘Llama’ AI products.

Workers who spoke to The Journal Investigates described their role as creating prompts that are fed to Meta’s AI platform so the system can be trained according to guidelines. They said they spent entire shifts pretending to be paedophiles online seeking child sex abuse related information, or suicidal people looking for details on how to kill or hurt themselves.

One employee who worked on a ‘Llama Child Sexual Exploitation’ team said: “You cannot imagine what that is like. Eventually – and I really think it would be the same for anyone – those thoughts started to feel normal.” The worker added that doing the job led to them self-harming for the first time in their life.

Medical documents reviewed by The Journal Investigates confirmed this, showing evidence of the mental health impact on Covalen workers. Meta has stated that it requires its contractors, like Covalen, to provide employees with training and counselling, including on-site mental health support.

However, Covalen has not responded to any requests for information from The Journal Investigates. It is understood that Covalen employees have access to some private healthcare, and are offered counselling through a third party company called which offers services from “mental health professionals (Wellbeing Specialists)”.

The campaign against AI-powered content moderation

Covalen workers in Ireland have previously raised concerns about the psychological impact of their work, as well as the conditions of their employment. A 2021 campaign led to a meeting with then-Enterprise Minister Leo Varadkar and an employee speaking before an Oireachtas committee.

A 2021 campaign also included an open letter signed by over 60 content moderators calling on Meta (then known as Facebook) to end its outsourcing practices. The group wanted Meta to become their direct employer and offer them the same conditions and benefits as its other workers.

The impact of AI and policy changes

Then in December 2021, CPL Resources, Covalen’s parent company, was sold to the Japanese group Outsourcing Inc for almost €318 million. This led to a radical change in the nature of work at Covalen.

This year, something else happened too: Meta’s policy on hate-related content changed. Now, slurs based on someone’s “protective characteristics” are deemed “safe” according to the new policy followed by moderators.

Some of the moderators having to carry out these orders are themselves part of the LGBT community. Concerns were raised with Covalen management by these employees, who found the change distressing, but they say that nothing was done.

The impact on workers

Workers at Covalen have reported a continuous issue of not being made fully aware of how difficult the content they will be expected to deal with when they are asked to move onto a new team or project.

Employees described reviewing footage of people being stabbed, impaled, drowned, and executed. One whose job was to review material related to violence said that they dealt with hundreds of pieces of content a day, including extremely graphic videos and pictures.

Other employees said that they have had to review footage of children being sexually abused. There are systems in place for this content to be reported to police forces across the world.

A lack of transparency and support

Workers who spoke to The Journal Investigates claimed that their employer Covalen told them it was Meta’s decision to revoke access to the staff catering. Meta hasn’t commented on this matter.

The workers also said that some of the former perks of the job, such as access to free meals, have been cut in recent times. According to the workers, their employer Covalen informed employees that the food provided to them at breakfast, lunch and dinner time would no longer be available.

After employees complained about the change, Covalen offered the employees one meal a day for a couple of months but employees say there was no food labelling, or allergen information on the meals, and the food was of poor quality.

Last Friday, the company said these meals would no longer be delivered. Over 100 Covalen employees have now joined the Communications Workers Union (CWU).

The fight for better conditions and pay

The toll that dealing with sensitive content and inconsistencies in wellness break length were extra motivating factors for the move. They are also asking for a better rate of pay, as they are currently earning an average of €29,700 per year.

A Meta spokesperson told The Journal Investigates that Covalen, and all contractors, are contractually obliged to pay their employees who review content on Facebook and Instagram above the industry standard in the markets they operate.

Workers with the support of the CWU have written an open letter to management demanding the reinstatement of their meals – which were previously advertised in Covalen recruitment materials and mentioned in its employee handbook – or a food allowance to substitute them.

They also notified the company that they had elected a Health and Safety Representative to represent them, which they are legally entitled to do under the Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005. In communication seen by The Journal Investigates, the company failed to acknowledge the representative’s election.

A call for change

John Bohan of the CWU told The Journal Investigates that the election of a Health and Safety representative will be crucial to employees as they fight for better pay, a return of meal provisions, and more support for those reviewing and creating sensitive content.

“Pay is the forefront issue. Workers feel underpaid and they are struggling to cope with rent, transport, childcare, and the general cost of living. They want a meaningful pay increase and a pay structure that rewards long service,” Bohan said.

The Journal Investigates has repeatedly reached out to Covalen, and its parent company CPL for , but has received no reply to any of its questions.