Meet our annotators: Retail team

Wondering who is annotating your data?

When you are hiring a company to help you with your annotation needs, you frequently never meet the workers who are labeling your data. We want to change this and present to you the inspiring stories of our annotators!

This article features 4 stories from our Retail annotation team: a specialized team dedicated to AI and computer vision projects in the retail space. The team members are experts in annotating panoramas of supermarket and grocery store shelves, stacks and sections with complex product taxonomies. The team is working out of the Annotation Hub in Syria managed by our partners at the Roia Foundation who are recruiting, training, and supporting talented youth from conflict-affected communities.

Abdul’s story

Abdul is 26 years old and comes from Aleppo. He has a degree in Informatics and used to be self-employed in the field of solar energy. Since starting working on the Retail annotation team, he shares that his life has changed in a positive direction: he has a monthly income, he has gained computer skills and exposure in the AI field, and he has mastered several labeling platforms. At first he struggled to combine his studies with the work but then he learned to manage both his job and the university with ease.

“My dream is to buy a house and ensure a dignified and comfortable life for my family”

Abdul’s professional goal is to get better at his work, while his personal goal is to ensure a better life for his family. He is sure that annotation work can help him achieve his goals and he is happy with his results and with the increase of his income so far.

Muhammad’s story

Muhammad is a 28-years-old university student pursuing a BA in Informatics. He is currently working at the Annotation Hub set up by the Roia Foundation but he also appreciates the opportunity to work from home. He says he likes annotation work because most of the projects are quite easy. Despite the stressful situation in Syria, Muhammad is now able to acquire new skills through his remote job and to learn more about AI.

“This work helps me expand my knowledge of the Artificial Intelligence field”

In the future, Muhammad hopes to secure full-time employment in retail annotation and to get more experience in the AI field. He is happy that he has been able to supervise several projects and see the positive outcome, and he shares that he would recommend working with Humans in the Loop to anyone who wants to learn more about AI and the IT sector while receiving dignified payment.

Amr’s story

Amr Mahmoud Moussa is 28 years old and lives in Homs, Syria, with his wife and two children. He was referred to Humans in the Loop by the Roia Foundation and is now part of the Retail annotation team, where he has supervised and successfully delivered several large projects. His motivation to join the team was to gain professional experience, as well as to be able to work under the difficult living conditions that Syria is in because of the war.

“It changed my life significantly, especially in terms of livelihoods, since I started having a suitable income for my family”

The challenges he faces are related to completing huge projects in a short timeline because of the great effort required to finish by the deadline, which means that he has to spend less time with his family. However, Amr shares that his living conditions have improved considerably, and he has been able to enter the sphere of freelance work, which is something new for people in Syria.

Zahraa’s story

Zahraa is 25 years old and is also currently studying Informatics Engineering at the University of Aleppo. She doesn’t have any professional experience in her field yet so for her working with the Retail team at Humans in the Loop was a great opportunity to provide for herself and to manage her studies at the same time. Since she started working, she has gained valuable work experience and a stable income, and she shares that most projects are quite easy but they do require a lot of time and dedication.

“I acquired skills like focus, speed, and accuracy in my work”

Flexibility is important for her so she appreciates that there are no full-time requirements, so that she can work whenever she wants. In her opinion, annotation work is especially suitable for students and that’s why she would recommend it to others. On a personal level, her goal is to complete her university studies and she believes that working in the Retail annotation team will help her achieve that.