Hungry Grad Student? Earn Extra Money Training AI
You’ve spent hours, days, and months on that lab experiment, praying for that article in Nature or Science. Meanwhile you took a look at your hourly rate. WTF. No one told you you would average somewhere around $3 and hour. We’ve all been there - spending nights in the labs, pulling 18 hour shifts, all to advance science.
Now that your brain is full of useless (ahem I mean meaningful) facts, let’s do something with them besides winning Science Nerd trivia night at the local bar!
Now we all have different opinions on AI, but like it or not it’s here to stay. So, us scientists can at least try to make sure what ChatGPT and Perplexity are putting out are actually correct. Otherwise we are about to go into the dark ages.
I’ve tried some of them for you and here are my thoughts.
Winner - Handshake AI
The Handshake AI program connects current students, recent graduates, and professionals with flexible, project-based opportunities to help train and improve large language models (LLMs). Fellows use their human judgment and subject-matter expertise to strengthen the performance of models developed by leading AI labs. Sign up here.
Project work through Handshake AI may include:
Reviewing and editing AI-generated content
Annotating datasets
Suggesting improvements to model outputs
Helping shape how AI tools perform in real-world scenarios
Participants are matched to projects based on their background, experience, and project demand.
Based on the projects I have completed, it’s clear they are looking for high level experts with a firm grasp of topics like environmental science, physics, and math.
No minimum hours are required. You decide what number of hours you’d like to contribute to a project. We typically limit the maximum number of hours per week on a project to 40 to maintain task quality. Many participants contribute about 10-20 hours per week. Many othe platforms require a minimum amount of hours.
Handshake AI projects do not involve screening or evaluating candidates on the Handshake career platform. Many platforms require a lengthly interview/screening process.
Pay. With my background I was able to pull in $125 per hour with bonuses for completing a higher number of tasks faster.
Runner Up: Mercor
Mercor partners with leading AI labs and enterprises to train frontier models using human expertise. You will work on projects that focus on training and enhancing AI systems. Sign up here.
Mercor is recruiting Scientists to work on a research project for one of the world’s top AI companies. As of this post they are looking for conservationists, soil scientists, geologists, engineers, and social and community managers. This project involves using professional experience to design questions related to your occupation.
Applicants must:
Have 4+ years full-time work experience in this occupation;
Be based in the US, UK, or Canada
Pay seems to range from $60-125 per hour
Note: Requires online AI led interview - 30 minutes.
Meh: Outlier
Outlier is a platform owned and operated by Scale AI and believes AI can only perform as well as the data it’s trained on.
As noted on their website: “Join the top 1% of environmental science experts worldwide to shape the future of AI. Earn up to $50 USD/hr and additional rewards based on the quality of your submission.” Now please clue me in as to why the top 1% are working for $50/hr? I advise trying the companies above before trying out Outlier because they are paying the top 1% in the bottom 25th percentile.
Most experts spend 5-10 hrs/week, up to 40 hours.
Requirements:
Education: Master’s degree or higher (PhD preferred) in the domain or a related field (can be currently enrolled).
Research Experience: Strong preference for candidates with peer-reviewed publications, patents, conference presentations, research grants, or industry R&D contributions.
English Proficiency: Ability to read and write with minimal errors.
Bonus Skills: AI model training experience is not required but helpful.
Turn Back Now: Prolific
Prolific is one of the first AI training platforms I signed up form and I will save you some time. Don’t waste your time. The projects coming in my dashboard are offering $0.13 - $15 per hour. That’s right - pennies!
“Prolific empowers you to get the data you need for your AI and research projects—faster. Get set up, target the right participants, and launch tasks, surveys, or experiments in your tools in minutes.”
Prolific is a technology company creating the biggest pool of high-quality, human-derived data in the world—and the ultimate platform to access it.
Over 35,000 AI developers, researchers, and leading organizations use Prolific to gather rich data from reliable and engaged participants - with a new study launched every 2 minutes.
Micro1
micro1 combines human expertise with advanced AI to evaluate and train agents that deliver real-world value.
Join Micro1 customer's team as an Ecology AI Trainer to help shape the future of artificial intelligence in the ecological domain.
Note: I have not signed up yet.
As noted on their site “In this highly collaborative and intellectually stimulating role, you will leverage your ecological expertise to rephrase complex domain-specific questions and design assessment rubrics that ensure AI models deliver accurate and insightful responses. This is an ideal opportunity for candidates who excel at translating scientific concepts into clear, structured, and actionable content.”
Note: Requires AI led online interview - 1 hour. Below is an example.
Key Responsibilities:
Rephrase and clarify challenging ecology-related questions to optimize them for AI training.
Develop detailed rubrics to assess AI-generated answers for scientific accuracy, clarity, and depth of analysis.
Review and provide constructive feedback on the ecological quality of AI-generated content.
Collaborate with the customer's team to maintain consistency and clarity in large-scale training data.
Utilize analytical thinking to identify gaps or ambiguities in training materials.
Apply instructional design principles to create structured ecological assessments and guidelines.
Maintain high standards of written and verbal communication in all documentation and reviews.
Required Skills and Qualifications:
Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Ecology, Environmental Science, or a closely related field.
Demonstrated ecological expertise, with strong understanding of major ecological principles and terminology.
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including excellent grammar and syntax.
Experience with technical writing or instructional design in scientific contexts.
Sharp analytical thinking and attention to detail for evaluating scientific accuracy.
Native or advanced proficiency in English.
Commitment of 10 hours per week with flexibility for asynchronous collaboration.
