TrustCrowd: Uncovering the Truth Machine

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TrustCrowd: Uncovering the Truth Machine 
data-based procedural essay
Ivan Netkachev, 2023; v. 0.8
part of the ununsubscribe pavilion at TheWrongBiennale 2023

In this non-game, you act as a crowdsource worker verifying whether a given Reddit comment is written by a pro-Russian bot or by a real person. The comments are retrieved semi-realtime and constantly updated. This is a work simulator, and the work will never come to an end.

Inside the AI-powered truth machines, human faces are hidden. Truth does not exist on its own: it is produced by the algorithms of digital media; but no algorithm is possible without the underpaid and monotonous labour of crowdsource workers.

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Today’s web is imbued with disinformation and fakes spread by governments. Russian state is sponsoring the organizations — such as Internet Research Agency — whose only goal is to confuse the internet-users, both in Russia and outside it. When faced with a pro-Russian comment on Reddit, one can never be sure whether it is written by a real person or a bot, or perhaps by a professional troll. 

One way to fight the spreading of fakes and propaganda is to train an AI model that would decide if a given text is written by a bot or not. Indeed, in recent years, many such startups have emerged; people trust AI more than themselves. However, as the AI theorist Lilly Irani claims, automation has hidden human faces; the existence of AI is secured by underpaid labor of countless crowdsource workers. 

In this (non-)game, players become such a worker. They confront real comments from the r/AskARussian subreddit, a thriving ground for actual bots and paid trolls. As responsible as this task may seem, it’s also monotonous. The work never comes to its end: to remind you that, according to Irani, crowdsourcers do not even earn the minimum wage in their countries. That’s how the truth is actually produced today: even truth machines have hidden human faces.