No abstract

Crowdsourcing is a valuable tool to gather human input which enables the development of reliable artificial intelligence systems. Microtask platforms like Prolific and Amazon's Mechanical Turk have flourished by creating environments where crowd workers can provide such human input in a diverse and representative manner. Such marketplaces have evolved to support several hundreds of workers in earning their primary livelihood through crowd work. Crowd workers, however, often perform these tasks in sub-optimal work environments with poor ergonomics. Additionally, many of the various microtasks require input via the standard method of a mouse and keyboard and are repetitive in nature. As such, crowd workers who primarily earn their livelihoods in microtask marketplaces are at risk of injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome. By changing the input modality from a mouse and keyboard to gesture-driven input, crowd workers can complete their work while simultaneously improving or safeguarding their physical health. Through three distinct microtasks, we constructed a dataset that enables the exploration of the physical and mental health of crowd workers while using gestures. In this work, we present the process of constructing this dataset, how we applied it, and the future applications we foresee.

Human input is pivotal in building reliable and robust artificial intelligence systems. By providing a means to gather diverse, high-quality, representative, and cost-effective human input on demand, microtask crowdsourcing marketplaces have thrived. Despite the unmistakable benefits available from online crowd work, the lack of health provisions and safeguards, along with existing work practices threatens the sustainability of this paradigm. Prior work has investigated worker engagement and mental health, yet no such investigations into the effects of crowd work on the physical health of workers have been undertaken. Crowd workers complete their work in various sub-optimal work environments, often using a conventional input modality of a mouse and keyboard. The repetitive nature of microtask crowdsourcing can lead to stress-related injuries, such as the well-documented carpal tunnel syndrome. It is known that stretching exercises can help reduce injuries and discomfort in office workers. Gestures, the act of using the body intentionally to affect the behavior of an intelligent system, can serve as both stretches and an alternative form of input for microtasks. To better understand the usefulness of the dual-purpose input modality of ergonomically-informed gestures across different crowdsourced microtasks, we carried out a controlled 2 x 3 between-subjects study (N=294). Considering the potential benefits of gestures as an input modality, our results suggest a real trade-off between worker accuracy in exchange for potential short to long-term health benefits.