What options are there for data annotation

1. What options are there for data annotation? Labellingand annotating data isusuallydonemanuallyusinga specially designed software called a data annotation tool. Data annotation tools canbeused toadd labels tovariousdata types suchasimages,text files, audio files, and more. Data serves as the foundation for any artificialintelligence ormachine learningproject. An AI/ML model requires carefully annotated and labelled data, called training data, to learn howtorecognise patternsandmakedecisions.Theresults an AI/ML model produces is heavily influenced by its training data, which is whyhigh-qualitytrainingdata forms thebasis ofan effectiveand successfulmodel.

2. Whatare thedifferentmethodsfordataannotation? Labellingand annotating data isusually donemanually usinga specially designedsoftwarecalledadataannotationtool.Dataannotationtools can beusedtoaddlabelstovariousdatatypessuchasimages, text files, audio files,andmore. Ingeneral,there arefourmainwaysofconvertingrawdatainto training data: Usingopen sourcetoolswithinternalannotators Usingpaidplatformswithinternalannotators Paying avendor toannotatedata withaspecifiedplatform Paying a vendor toannotateusingtheirownplatform It canbedifficulttodecide whichmethodismosteffectivefor your needs,solet'sgothroughtheir differentaspects. Usingopensourcetoolswith internalannotators Thisfirstmethodprobablyseemslike thesimplestandcheapest solution,and itcanbe,butthere areafewissueswiththismethod that caneasilybeoverlooked. Issueswithusingopensourcetoolstypically arisewhentryingto scalea projectup,asmanyofthesetoolsare moresuitedfor smallerprojects andteams.Itisanalogousto writing alongarticlecollaboratively before theadventoftoolssuchasGoogle DocsandOffice365 - errorssuch as missingdata,conflictingannotationsandlowannotation qualitywill become increasinglycommonplace.Anotherthingto consideris that, whileopensourcetools are free,aprojectstill needsteam members

3. withtechnicalknowledgeonhow todeploy anddevelopworkflows aroundthe tool. Inpractice,an opensourcetool isbestusedforindividualprojectsor prototyping an idea for an AI/ML model rather than large scale operations forbusiness. Usingpaidplatformswith internalannotators Inthelastfewyearsanumber ofdataannotation platformshavebeen createdandmadeavailablefor purchaseasmorecompanieslookto adapting AI/MLmodels.Suchplatformstypically comewithproject management features,makingiteasy toscaleupyourdataannotation work. Usingadata annotation platformallowsyouto once againavoidthe obstaclesthatusually comewithmodifyingopensourcesoftwareor developingyourownannotationplatform,enablingyouto direct resourceselsewhereinthe projectwhileacceleratingits timeline.An advantagepaidplatformshaveoveropensourcetoolsisthatthe costof supporting and upgrading the toolisborneexternallyby thetoolprovider insteadofinternally.Choosing to purchase adataannotationtoolisa quicksolution to gettingyourdatalabelledwithalarge team,however,it also comesatthecostoflesscustomisability thanyouwouldgetwitha purpose-builtannotation platform. Another aspect toconsider forboththisandthe previous methodisthe use ofinternalannotators.Whileitisnaturalforacompany towantto manage itsownannotation staff,atrainingdatasetusuallyneeds hundredsofthousandsofdatapointstobe useful tothe AI/ML model. Foracompanythiswouldeither meanhavingfeweremployeesspend excessiveamountsoftimelabelling/annotatingdataorhiringmore employees. Ineithercase,the tediousandoften manual processof

4. annotating thisdata can leadtoburnoutand other humancapitalissues that maynotbeobviousatfirstglance. Paidplatformscan bea good optionforlesscomplexprojectswithfewer specificrequirements,andwhenlackingteammemberswithtechnical expertise. Payingavendortoannotatedatawith aspecifiedtool As previously mentioned, labelling and annotating datainternally can pose a huge obstacle for an AI/ML project. Because of this it may be better for manyprojectstooutsourcethisprocess. Anumberofnewcompanies andstartupshaveformedoffering professionaldataannotationservicesforAI/MLprojectsinrecentyears. Such servicescanbeextremelyhelpfulin reducing the workloadof internal employees,allowingthemtofocus their effortsonother more importantpartsofdevelopment.Scalingaprojectisoftenmucheasier withavendoraswellgiventhat the focusof their workforceison annotatingthe data.Effectively,this method‘buys’thelabour from anothercompanytoworkwithatool thatyouspecify. Onethingtoconsiderwhenhiringanexternalteamtouseyourtool of choiceisthatitmay take sometimebefore proper workflowsandquality standardsareestablishedasthe team getsaccustomedtotheplatform. Inaddition to this, supportingthe softwareand ensuring itfunctions properlywouldstillfall on the providerofthe platform,and the workforce thatyou’vehiredmay notnecessarilysynergisewellwiththetool you’ve chosen. Linking up with a vendor to have your data annotated is most effective for projectswith alarger scope andwhenlooking to reduceinternal

5. workload.However,there are alsovendorswhichofferannotation servicesontheirowncustom-builtplatforms,whichbringsusto ournext method. Payingavendortoannotateusingtheir own platform Manyvendorshavetheirpreferredannotationtools,orindeedhavebuilt their owntoolswhichare suitablefor theirownworkflows..Allowinga vendortousetheir choiceofplatformenablesthem tomakechanges where necessarytofityourspecificneeds. Delegating thechoiceofannotationplatform to thevendorallowsthem tobemoreflexibleandoperatewithmoreefficientworkflowsthan other options.Thismethodisthemostcomprehensiveofthefourin termsof annotation servicesbecausethevendorhandlesall aspectsof the annotation processeslisted inpreviousmethods.The learningcurveis gentler thanmandating a specifictool, anditremoves theneed for excessiveinterventionontheclient’spart. Another advantageofthismethod is thatitcan leadto closer partnershipsbetweenthevendorandtheclient.Aclientisableto specify theirprojectneedsand the vendorwillusuallydeterminethebest courseofaction for theirrequirements whilekeepinginmindaccuracy, speedandcosts. Thismethod ispopularamong largercompanieslookingtohavetheir annotation needshandledprofessionally andwithminimalneed for intervention. Sourced fromhttps://www.tictag.io/post/data-annotation-options-data- annotation-tools