Nature of the work
AI companies need people to write example answers, judge and rank what their models produce, check facts in their field, record speech and label data. They hire through platforms such as Mercor, Alignerr, DataAnnotation, micro1 and Outlier, which recruit contractors project by project. The work is almost always remote and paid by the hour or by the task.
The kinds of work with the most open roles today:
How to get well-paid roles
Of the 640 open roles that pay $100/hr or more (at the midpoint of their range), 75% ask for a degree, a professional licence or senior experience: doctors, lawyers, accountants, engineers, PhDs. These rates are paid for professional knowledge; AI skills are not usually required.
223 roles need no experience, with a median of $25/hr. These are mostly rating, writing, recording and labelling work, and native speakers of a language in demand often do better than generalists. See roles that need no experience.
Hiring process
You apply on the platform's own site, usually to a specific role, sometimes to a general pool. Of the 1,644 postings that describe their hiring steps, 55% mention a skills test, 27% an ID check, 29% an interview with an AI interviewer, and 12% a paid assessment. Expect to wait: some platforms reply in days, others in weeks, so it can help to apply to more than one.
Each platform's page here explains how that platform hires, with links to its own help pages. See all platforms.
Pago
- Rates are set per project and sometimes per person after an assessment. A posting's figure is a guide, not a promise.
- "Up to $150/hr" is a ceiling. It is the most the posting offers, which is why our pay data leaves ceilings out of medians.
- Some work is paid per task. The hourly figure is then an estimate of what a typical worker earns in an hour.
- Most platforms pay in US dollars, weekly or twice a month, through Stripe, PayPal, Wise or a payroll service such as Deel. What you receive depends on exchange rates and fees.
- 90% of roles that state a commitment are flexible or part-time, so many people do this alongside a job or studies. 571 roles are open to people in any country.
Contractor status and tax
Almost all of this work is freelance: you're an independent contractor, not an employee, so you usually handle your own tax. The official guides for the countries with the most roles: GOV.UK (UK), IRS (US), Income Tax Department (India), BIR (Philippines). This isn't tax advice.
Avoiding scams
Real platforms never charge you to apply, rarely recruit through WhatsApp or Telegram, and never ask you to buy equipment or move money for them. Do not accept an offer that does any of these things.