Point.AI hires high-functioning people on the spectrum – who often are underemployed -- to annotate data, a task requiring keen attention to detail.
PoinTel Aviv-based Point.AI is making a social impact while providing critical data annotation for the fast-growing artificial intelligence industry serving the agriculture, security, retail, and other sectors.
By 2025, an estimated 500 exabytes of data will be created globally every day. To be usable, it must be annotated – a highly detailed and repetitive task that can lead to errors and employee burnout.
That’s why Point.AI hires only high-functioning individuals on the autism spectrum. They are well suited to the task due to their heightened sense of curiosity, ability to see patterns and details, and determination to get the job done.
“After spending three years in the army doing administrative work, I was struggling with my job search,” says Yalon Shani, 25.
“I was even going into stores to ask if they need employees. And then about two years ago, an organization that helps people on the spectrum find work told me about a company that had just started on a pilot basis and was hiring.”
That was Point.AI. Shani did a tryout and two months later came on full time as one of its first employees.
“I mostly analyze images, but the tasks vary from project to project,” he explains. “We look for certain objects and feed the data into a computer so it learns to do it by itself — we’re facilitating artificial intelligence.”
Though the work can be tedious, Shani says he enjoys the work environment and his interactions with the people in charge.
“I am learning skills and building my confidence. And outside of work, they spend time helping us grow, like working through problems and becoming better people overall,” he tells ISRAEL21c.
He believes his experience at Point.AI will help him advance in any field.
When he told team leader Shir Bartzur – an HR specialist from the Shekulo Tov organization that develops and provides supported vocational employment for people like Shani — that he dreams of being a teacher, “she occasionally nudges me in that direction,” he says.