But at the same time, like Lebrun and Facebook, Mortensen underlines the importance of data to the evolution of AI, and he says that if Facebook plays things right—properly guiding and recording and cataloging the behavior of its trainers—these humans could indeed provide a shortcut. Facebook must focus on how the humans can improve the system in the future, he says, not just in the present. That isn’t easy. But it’s the sort of thing Facebook does better than most.
Additional reporting by Jessi Hempel.