While everyone argues about AI taking our jobs, we missed the empirical reality: we are already working for them. Every time you use ChatGPT, you aren't just a "user"—you are an unpaid data labeler, edge-case tester, and RLHF trainer.

In this investigation, I break down the "Shadow Labor" economy of Generative AI. We analyze the 6 distinct ways your everyday prompts create proprietary value for model labs—from Intent Data discovery to Error Correction—and I calculate exactly what that labor would cost if they had to pay for it on the open market.

We cover:

- The "Free" and even the Paid Tier Trap: Why your data is the actual subscription fee.

- The 6 Types of User Labor: Breaking down RLHF, Edge Case discovery, and Intent Mapping.

- The Calculation: Why I estimate your monthly contribution is conservatively worth $37.

- The Privacy Gap: How Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google differ in data usage.

- How to Opt-Out: The specific settings you need to change today to stop training their models for free.

Here to read the full article: https://www.2ndorderthinkers.com/p/chatgpt-owes-you-37-per-month-heres

Keywords: AI Economics, RLHF Explained, Data Privacy, OpenAI Business Model, Generative AI Hype, The Cost of Free AI, 2nd Order Effects of AI.

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