Machine Learning Street Talk (MLST) Why Humans Are Still Powering AI [Sponsored]
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Nov 3, 2025 
Phelim Bradley, Co-founder and CEO of Prolific, discusses the vital role humans play in AI development. He explains how human intelligence and data train models, emphasizing quality over quantity. Phelim reveals the challenges of matching the right experts to specific tasks and highlights how Prolific fosters long-term relationships to improve data quality. He also addresses the geopolitical concerns surrounding AI centralization and the evolving future of work, where expert judgment will be increasingly in demand as AI continues to grow.
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Design For Relationships, Not One-Off Tasks
- Treat contributors as ongoing partners rather than single-shot workers to reduce gaming and increase quality.
- Build feedback loops and repeated interactions to drive cooperative behavior.
Direct Feedback Improves Trust
- Prolific aims to abstract human messiness while enabling direct researcher-participant feedback and empathy.
- Mutual feedback and peer messaging improve trust and data quality on the platform.
Force Clear Specs And Train Participants
- Help researchers precisely specify required expertise and design tasks clearly to improve outcomes.
- Use training phases and multi-step projects so participants learn what good quality looks like.
