OpenAI hires contractors to review ChatGPT user chats: report

When people pour their hearts out to ChatGPT, asking for therapy advice, relationship guidance, or help drafting sensitive emails, they probably assume the audience is limited to a large language model. Turns out, humans might be reading along too. According to a report by 404 Media, OpenAI has hired hundreds of contractors to review real ChatGPT user conversations as part of an internal initiative known as Project Lily. The goal is to improve the chatbot’s responses, specifically by curbing its tendency toward excessive flattery and overly human-like behavior. Contractors rate model outputs on a scale of 1 to 7 and provide feedback that feeds back into the training loop. What Project Lily actually involves The contractors are sourced through platforms called Crossing Hurdles and Mercor, and the work pays well. Reviewers earn more than $50 per hour, according to the report. User prompts are run through what OpenAI calls a Privacy Filter model before contractors see them. The idea is to strip out personally identifiable information. In practice, the filter has gaps. Internal documents cited in the report acknowledge that sensitive personal details can still slip through because the ...