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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Human Data Is The Hidden Core
- Human intelligence is the foundation of artificial intelligence and underpins training, evaluation, and model performance.
- The human data layer is messy but central and often overlooked in AI stacks.
Code-Review Experience Informed Matching
- Tom described building a code-review platform that routed pull requests to the right expert using a skill matrix.
- That experience informed Prolific's approach to matching specialized human expertise to tasks.
Prioritize Vetting And Long-Term Incentives
- Verify, vet, and build rich profiles of participants to route the right humans to the right tasks.
- Prefer incentivizing long-term relationships and proper pay to maximize data quality.
