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4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor
101–110 of 250 posts
Re: 4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor
#10240k people are not under thread, I am getting AI contractor job offers every month on UpWork, I am glad I haven't accepted more than one as it is just not worth to do.
Re: 4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
I took the "because of course" to be about having a word for everything - a stereotypical idea about the German language.
There's also the other implication that the (East) Germans were Soviet just 35 years ago. But yes. We Americans know Germans more for their silly big words. But statements like that can be misinterpreted as the German perspective of themselves doesn't quite match the American stereotypes.
East Germany was not Soviet. Under influence/control of the Soviets, yes, but not part of the Soviet Union.
Re: 4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor
#104> If you were a Mercor contractor and you believe your voice may already be in circulation, ORAVYS will analyze the first three suspect samples free of charge. Awesome, if you're a victim of an AI company having your voice, you can help yourself by sending another AI company your voice! > Audio is never used to train commercial models without explicit consent I'm sure Mercor has explicit consent as well, legal teams…
I think "CYA" is maybe a misleading or overflowery term.
In the idealized world, the legal system is meant to provide an accessible alternative to violence for reconciling disputes, but it's increasingly wielded as an impossibly kafkaesque system meant to maintain corporate power over individuals.
I think "CYA" is an overly-flowery term for the reality that they're blocking every avenue for legal recourse, while a variety of other avenues still exist for which adding friction requires the maintenance of expensive and ongoing costs (owning multiple residences, hiring security, etc.)
(To be clear, I am advocating for a more accessible and level legal system, not for UHC-style violence.)
Re: 4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor
#105Is this post not just an ad for a vibe coded site / product? It adds no new info on the mercor breach and advertises something which I presume has even worse safety practices
Re: 4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor
#106So, they should all just rotate their voices ... right? I jest but the majority of the "normal" people I know are happy to hand over biometrics because _it's easier_. We need to start branding biometrics as "forever passwords" or something to help people understand just what they're handing over when they validate access to their checking account or enter Disney World or whatever else.
Functionally, biometrics are closer to a username than a password. Fingerprints, DNA, iris scans, gait patterns, etc. are all something you can't change (much like a permanent account ID) and are constantly being presented to the world (much like an email address). In addition under US law, police can compel presentation of fingerprints, but passwords are protected under the 5th amendment.
That's fair. Though, thinking about it this way, I'd argue they're even more like a permanent API key. Again, messaging completely lost on people who don't spend time worrying these things.
Re: 4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor
#107Man that’s pretty shitty that Mercor tricked 40k contractors, and then did a poor job of securing their data. There should be stronger consequences for stuff like this.
What happens now is that a lot of clueless CTO that didn't know about this company now know it's name. So the outcome of this mess is probably more business for Mercor I mean, just look at what happened to Crowdstrike....
Mercor has around 5 customers that make up 95% of its revenue. Anybody who needs to know about them already does.
Re: 4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor
#108> What does an attacker actually do with thirty seconds of someone's clean read voice plus a scan of their driver's license?
I could think of quite a few things. I know that my bank and brokerage use voice ID.
Re: 4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor
#109> If you were a Mercor contractor and you believe your voice may already be in circulation, ORAVYS will analyze the first three suspect samples free of charge. Awesome, if you're a victim of an AI company having your voice, you can help yourself by sending another AI company your voice! > Audio is never used to train commercial models without explicit consent I'm sure Mercor has explicit consent as well, legal teams…
This reminds me of all the new companies that want to "help" you get your public information out of $CORPORATE hands; as if these companies will some how not succumb to either enshittification or breach.
The good thing about the grift economy is it grifts itself, like the turtles!
Re: 4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
The irony runs deeper than the free analysis offer. The whole Mercor contractor relationship was this exact pattern: hand over studio-quality voice recordings and ID scans to get paid for data labeling work that didn't require either. "Explicit consent" was buried in the terms, and people clicked through because they needed the paycheck. Now 40k people have learned that biometrics aren't passwords. You can't rotate y…
> biometrics aren't passwords. You can't rotate your voice. "My voice is my passport. Verify me." I have to renew my passport every 10 years or so. How do I do that with my voice? I guess it's time to take some vocal lessons.
just take up smoking heavily