Outlier: Can You Make Money Training AI?

When you’ve got a background in something from writing to chemistry, you might be able to earn a living remotely by means of a website known as Outlier. Outlier enlists freelance consultants all around the globe to coach Synthetic Intelligence fashions. The positioning hopes to make AI extra correct and articulate.

The draw back? It’s possible you’ll be coaching your digital substitute. And, whereas the positioning guarantees hourly pay from $15 to $50, it seems these estimates are inflated and also you won’t receives a commission in any respect.

What’s Outlier?

Outlier connects trade consultants in a big selection of fields with corporations which are making an attempt to create and educate Synthetic Intelligence instruments.

The way it works

To enroll right here, you’ll want a sound ID; a wise telephone; a resume; a LinkedIn Profile; and to be of authorized age to work in your nation.

The positioning seems to function around the globe. Nevertheless it has a “working location coverage” that enables the positioning to reject your software if it doesn’t like the place you’re domiciled. (Our California-based reviewer obtained booted on account of this coverage, with out additional rationalization. A website spokesman failed to answer questions on the place the positioning does and doesn’t function.)

Should you get by means of the preliminary screening course of, you’ll be capable of see particular initiatives obtainable. Tasks sometimes both pay by the hour or the job. You’ll know which upfront and the quantity you’ll earn for the undertaking or by the hour.

Nevertheless, even when the undertaking is in your space of experience, you’ll be requested to “qualify” for every job. You do that by reviewing the undertaking pointers and finishing “evaluation duties to exhibit your experience and understanding.” It’s solely after you move this secondary screening you could take a paid process to earn cash.

Outlier overview

Outlier says it enlists freelance consultants to assist prepare Synthetic Intelligence fashions in a big selection of fields, languages and cultures. This might contain serving to techniques study colloquialisms and correct usages of phrases. However it will probably additionally contain extremely technical solutions to science, accounting and math questions.

Certainly, a current go to to the positioning discovered jobs for everybody from artists to civil engineers, writers to physicists. Promised pay ranged from $15 to $50 per hour.

Job necessities

Job necessities sometimes contain having a school diploma in your discipline of experience and a powerful command of English. Different necessities fluctuate a bit. However all jobs seem like roughly the identical: You’ll be taking a look at the right way to ask AI instruments questions and evaluating the solutions for each accuracy and readability.

Qualifying

Nevertheless, even after you qualify to take jobs by means of this platform, you’ll have to qualify for every particular person gig. That qualification course of entails studying by means of the undertaking pointers and finishing “evaluation duties.” This course of takes one to 2 hours, in response to Outlier.

Sadly, it’s not clear whether or not this qualification course of is only a back-handed manner of getting consultants donate a number of hours of their time to every undertaking earlier than they even begin. There’s no information on the common length of an Outlier undertaking, so it’s not clear whether or not this ought to be a big deterrent to taking work right here. Nevertheless, a number of reviewers keep they spent extra “qualifying” for initiatives than really getting paid for them.

Different considerations

Outliers phrases additionally say that the positioning reserves the appropriate to withhold fee for duties, in the event that they’re inaccurate, insufficient or fail to adapt to the undertaking’s pointers. We’d usually think about this to be website boiler plate. However a part of SideHusl.com’s overview course of is to spotlight potential purple flags within the phrases after which look to see how these play out in actual life.

And, that introduced us to some disturbing investigative tales about Outlier and its sister corporations performed by Inc. Journal. The headline offers you the crux of the story — “It’s a Rip-off. Accusations of Mass Non-Cost Develop Towards Scale AI’s Subsidiary, Outlier AI.”

Should you’re contemplating signing up with Outlier, we’d extremely suggest that you simply read the whole piece here.

The reporter, Sam Blum, has performed quite a lot of further tales about this website, its associates, and its proprietor.

Freelancer critiques

What do the freelance consultants, who work with Outlier, say about working with the platform? Curiously, not too long ago they’ve mentioned nearly solely good issues. Beginning in mid-February of 2025, the positioning gathered dozens of 5-star critiques on Certainly, nearly all by individuals who describe themselves as “AI Coach.”

However the website’s total rating is a substandard 2.4 stars. Why? Opinions from earlier within the 12 months — January and early February — are extremely important of the period of time freelancers have to spend “coaching” for every task, misrepresentations concerning pay, and the supply of jobs. Has the positioning performed a 180-degree flip or is that this overview whitewashing?

Evaluation whitewashing

We suspect the latter. The way in which overview whitewashing works is that this:

Corporations can’t pressure reputable websites like Certainly to take down dangerous critiques. However they will overwhelm the system by encouraging (or shopping for) constructive critiques. (Some freelance websites promote review-writing “jobs” that pay a number of {dollars} per faux overview.)

Since many individuals solely take a look at the newest critiques, a bunch of constructive feedback on the high of the road makes websites look good even after they’re sketchy. And, over time, these faux critiques can overwhelm the true critiques, primarily making a foul employer look higher.

Complaints

The complaints that we see in critiques (that we imagine to be actual) are fairly constant and predictable, given the hints in Outlier’s phrases.

• Unpaid coaching takes up a number of time, particularly when in comparison with the period of time you spend doing paid work. And that may dramatically inflate the positioning’s revenue claims.
• Outlier intimates that it has loads of jobs, which might make investing the time to undergo the onboarding course of worthwhile. However freelancers say assignments are sporadic.
• There’s nobody to reply questions concerning the coaching supplies. And if you happen to misunderstand what’s wanted, you get booted from the task and aren’t paid in any respect.

Says one reviewer (from 1/5/2025): “You don’t receives a commission to do hours of coaching for a undertaking. And there’s no one to reply questions throughout the coaching if you happen to don’t perceive one thing. Should you misunderstand the coaching information, you gained’t know till you actually fail and get kicked off the undertaking. This do business from home isn’t well worth the hours you place in to not receives a commission.”

Suggestions

We imagine you can also make cash right here. However the quantity you can also make per hour could also be half of what’s marketed. Given the extent of experience you’re presupposed to must do initiatives right here, we predict material consultants — even generalists — can do higher with different websites.

A website known as JustAnswer, as an illustration, enlists freelancers to reply shopper questions on every thing from auto mechanics to finance. Engineers would do higher to enroll with SMA Inc. Excessive-end consulting consultants ought to think about Catalant. And when you have any experience, chances are you’ll earn good cash (although sporadically) by means of consulting websites like Maven, UserInterviews or Respondent,

If you wish to enroll with Outlier, you’ll be able to find them here.

However right here’s what one “material skilled” mentioned in December 2024 about working for them: Should you’re considering of working right here as a contributor or material skilled, your time will most likely be higher spent doing actually the rest. Be taught to color, or perhaps choose up an instrument. You’re going to get extra of a reward from that.

What their customers say (from Indeed):

At this level, I’ve been with Outlier AI for nearly a 12 months. I took the job as a result of the itemizing mentioned the hourly pay was from $20/hr, it was distant, and work whenever you wish to – which is what I want. Nevertheless, as soon as I used to be employed, I shortly found that the promised pay was not as marketed. A lot of the work is $15-18/hr, hardly ever is it over that. The work is just not regular both – in truth, there have been many occasions that there was no work obtainable for days, and even weeks, at a time, on any undertaking. Additionally, for every undertaking they’ve an onboarding portion to coach you the right way to do these particular duties (despite the fact that it’s nearly all the time the very same). However the majority of that coaching is unpaid. I’ve spent hours upon hours of my time doing these trainings with zero compensation.

Hours upon hours of unpaid coaching
Workforce Leads are of no assist in any respect and don’t reply to messages
Usually placed on initiatives that don’t match my {qualifications}
Abruptly dismissed from initiatives with out warning
Lots of work 1 week and no work subsequent week

Hours of unpaid coaching

Count on approx. 5-10 hours of “onboarding” for every job UNPAID. Then a lot of the jobs haven’t any duties to do. They then say to onboard to a different job. One week I did 24 hours of onboarding UNPAID and never one paid hour got here out of it! Job said $30 an hour then as soon as onboarding full and are signing a contract they lower pay in HALF!

At this job you’ll prepare for a undertaking by yourself from on-line programs with no assist from present staff. The coaching is just not sufficient to learn to do your job. The coaching is just not paid and takes hours. Should you handle to previous the take a look at on the finish of the coaching, you’ll be assigned duties for that undertaking.

There’s a restrict to what number of duties you are able to do per day that varies by undertaking, however is normally round two duties per day. Relying on the undertaking, which means the utmost you can also make per day is between $2.50 and $30.You’ll be switched between initiatives regularly and must do unpaid coaching after unpaid coaching with little precise paid work obtainable.

Wealth of uncertainty

“I’m the letter written in uncertainty.” The quote is from Morrowind, however this firm most likely has it as its mission assertion. Every little thing is all the time in flux, and never in a great way. Venture specs continually change, the critiques are subjective, initiatives all of the sudden pause or finish with out warning. Nonetheless, they do pay and there are occasions I’ve made nice cash with them. It jogs my memory of the used video video games I used to purchase that got here with no directions. I knew the right way to determine them out and win; it’s the identical with this. Nevertheless, I’m bored with feeling like I’m making an attempt to navigate the ocean in an internal tube…I can deal with a LOT of uncertainty after being freelance for 20 years. However that is ridiculous.

Poor return

It’s a legit web site. Should you get duties to do, and you’ll earn cash. The issue is, the duties, and probably the fee, you get is just not well worth the time you spent. Typical state of affairs is you’ve spent 4 hours coaching and you’re solely assigned with 2 duties price about USD$20.

One constructive facet of Outlier is studying what’s concerned in coaching AI fashions. The place is totally distant, however you aren’t assured a sure variety of duties. It’s not unusual to go to the dashboard and discover no obtainable initiatives for a number of days.

Bait and change

Count on to be disrespected if you happen to determine to submit work for this firm. I used to love this firm quite a bit, however they only baited and switched a number of hundred folks with undertaking charges that had been slashed in half proper earlier than Christmas. Beforehand useful administration members all of the sudden know nothing, and help will solely reply your questions with scripted solutions. They may then shut the ticket earlier than you’ll be able to reply. This form of nonsense has been ramping up over the past couple of months.

Should you’re considering of working right here as a contributor or material skilled, your time will most likely be higher spent doing actually the rest. Be taught to color, or perhaps choose up an instrument. You’re going to get extra of a reward from that.