Data Worker Economy

In the US, data workers with credentials (PhDs, lawyers, etc.) can earn between $35-95/hour to do the work that makes models smarter: stress-testing reasoning, scoring outputs, etc.

But the dark underbelly is that often times these workers can be offboarded abruptly when projects end or quality dips, only to be offered similar contracts later for less hourly pay.

Outside of the US in countries like the Philippines, Kenya, and Venezuela, workers are subject to traumatic image labeling, toxic-text tagging, and content moderation.

They are often paid below the legal minimum wage, and sometimes, less than what they contractually agreed to.

Big Data Worker Companies (intermediaries between Big Tech and workers) like Scale AI, Mercor, Handshake, and Surge AI are worth billions, while exploiting labor in the US and abroad.

This is an industry that folks probably know very little about.
Don't be wooed by "fun side hustle" -- it's worth doing a bit of due diligence about these companies and their labor practices before signing on.