Finnish Startup Trains AI Using Prisoner Labor

Finnish startup Metroc is harnessing the labor of Finnish prisoners to train its AI models, compensating them for their work. Details of this story were published in Wired.

Metroc, based in Helsinki, has developed a search engine designed to assist construction companies in finding recently approved building projects. To achieve this, Metroc needs data annotators who can help its models understand clues from news articles and municipal documents about upcoming construction projects. The artificial intelligence must distinguish between, for example, a hospital project that already has an architect or window installer hired and projects that are not yet completed.

For this purpose, the startup requires individuals with excellent knowledge of the Finnish language to train its extensive linguistic model, involving tasks like answering questions and evaluating statements, often referred to as "clickwork."

However, finding regular employees in Finland with high salaries and good social benefits proved to be a challenging endeavor. Therefore, Metroc's leadership decided to turn to the prison system.

One incarcerated woman, who works for the startup, describes her work as tiresome and monotonous, but she is paid on an hourly basis (rather than for the speed or quality of work). For a 6-hour shift, she can earn approximately 9 euros. In her prison, only three inmates opted to work with laptops rather than engage in tasks like sewing clothes or other types of labor.

Metroc's CEO, Jussi Virnala, notes that investors with whom he interacted were intrigued by the company's connection with Finnish prisons. "Everyone was simply interested and excited about the innovative way we did it. I think it was very valuable from a product perspective," says Jussi Virnala. Naturally, such an approach pleases investors as it allows the startup to significantly reduce labor costs compared to hiring regular employees.

The leadership of the "Smart Prison Project," with whom Metroc reached an agreement to employ inmates, believes that this type of work has a future and prepares individuals for life outside prison walls.

Recently, Metroc raised $2 million in investments to expand its operations in Northern European countries. Investors who engaged with the team were interested in their collaboration with Finnish prisons.