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   Milagros Miceli (milamiceli@dair-community.social)'s status on Thursday, 11-Dec-2025 06:42:34 JST Milagros Miceli

   Today, DWI publishes a powerful essay by Michael Geoffrey Asia, who works impersonating an AI sex companion: https://data-workers.org/michael/

   This piece offers a rare glimpse into the psychological and economic realities behind one of the fastest-growing sectors: AI-assisted intimacy.

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     Milagros Miceli (milamiceli@dair-community.social)'s status on Thursday, 11-Dec-2025 06:42:29 JST Milagros Miceli

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     Now imagine believing that you're sharing your private fantasies with a bot that cannot judge or remember. Just that, on the other side, is a man in a one-room home in Nairobi, pretending to be an AI companion.

     That man is Michael, and this is his story: https://data-workers.org/michael/

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     Milagros Miceli (milamiceli@dair-community.social)'s status on Thursday, 11-Dec-2025 06:42:30 JST Milagros Miceli

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     Or when the CEO of Fireflies admitted that his supposedly AI-powered transcription service originally ran on “two guys surviving on pizza“?
     https://www.pcgamer.com/software/ai/usd1-billion-ai-company-co-founder-admits-that-its-usd100-a-month-transcription-service-was-originally-two-guys-surviving-on-pizza-and-typing-out-notes-by-hand/

     Rich Felker repeated this.
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     Milagros Miceli (milamiceli@dair-community.social)'s status on Thursday, 11-Dec-2025 06:42:31 JST Milagros Miceli

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     Or the CEO of shopping startup Nate, who was charged with fraud for telling investors and customers that their system was powered by AI, but instead used human labor in the Philippines and Romania?
     https://fortune.com/2025/04/11/albert-saniger-nate-shopping-app-fraud-ai-justice-department

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     Milagros Miceli (milamiceli@dair-community.social)'s status on Thursday, 11-Dec-2025 06:42:32 JST Milagros Miceli

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     Remember the Amazon “Just Walk Out” supermarkets that were marketed as automated but actually relied on thousands of data workers in India?
     https://www.businessinsider.com/amazons-just-walk-out-actually-1-000-people-in-india-2024-4

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     Milagros Miceli (milamiceli@dair-community.social)'s status on Thursday, 11-Dec-2025 06:42:33 JST Milagros Miceli

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     But Michael's story isn't an exception. AI impersonation is far more widespread than most people think.