Outlier

Outlier is a Scale AI-operated platform that pays subject matter experts to train large language models through prompt writing, rubric creation and answer ranking, with flexible hours and weekly pay.

Outlier is a work platform that connects subject matter experts with AI companies that need human feedback to improve large language models. Instead of selling software to end users, it recruits people with domain knowledge in coding, STEM, languages and other fields, then pays them to contribute to model training projects. The platform is operated by Scale AI and positions the work as flexible, remote and open to people without prior AI experience. The audience is graduate students, master's and PhD holders, working professionals and college graduates who want side income or hands-on exposure to AI training. Minimum qualifications typically sit at undergraduate-level expertise, with graduate degrees preferred, though requirements vary by project. Applicants need to communicate in English well enough to navigate the platform, and should have a valid ID, a mobile phone, a current resume and a LinkedIn profile. In practice, onboarding takes roughly 30 to 90 minutes. Contributors create a profile, import and review their skills, verify their identity and pass skill screenings, then move into project-specific onboarding. Typical tasks include writing a deliberately difficult prompt with a correct answer, building grading rubrics, and rating or ranking model answers. Project length depends on customer needs, and finishing one opens the door to others. Earnings are tied to hours contributed, with no minimum hours, weekly payment and quality-based rewards on top of base pay. Contributors also get free access to several paid AI models. Among alternatives, Outlier sits in the crowded field of data-annotation and expert-feedback marketplaces. Its pitch rests on scale, citing more than 900K contributors across 50 countries, plus community support and a Trustpilot rating of 4.1 out of 5 from over 3,000 experts. Project availability, pay rates and task type are not fixed publicly on the homepage, so the experience depends heavily on which opportunities are open for a given skill set and region.