Now it’s China’s experts who are gig workers training AI data
Squeezed by a stagnant economy and state directives, China's underemployed lawyers, architects, and engineers are taking cheap gig work to teach AI their exact trades — just to pay this month's mortgage.
Cuicui, a Shenzhen-based architect in her 40s, transitioned from designing public buildings to becoming an AI data trainer, after her income plummeted due to reduced government infrastructure spending. She uses her expertise in building proposals and profitability analyses to train AI models on specific white-collar tasks. Similarly, in the U.S., platforms like Mercor and Surge AI have recruited Hollywood filmmakers, lawyers, and scientists to train AI models on various professional tasks.
In China, the government recently encouraged industry experts to take part in data annotation to improve the "knowledge density" of AI training data. Companies like Siriser, ByteDance's Xpert, and TalentsAI are now hiring professionals from various fields to annotate data and train AI models. Despite the challenges, AI trainers in China view the work as a means to supplement their income and stay competitive in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
Written by urgent.news from Rest of World Tech's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
