Journalists are increasingly being hired to train large language models for major tech companies like Meta and OpenAI, according to reporting by Andrew Deck for NiemanLab. The AI training data company Outlier, owned by Scale AI, has been actively recruiting journalists through university job portals and professional networks, offering remote work at rates around $35 per hour.
Many journalists have turned to this work amid industry-wide job cuts and declining freelance opportunities. In 2024 alone, the U.S. news industry eliminated nearly 5,000 jobs. Recent journalism graduates and experienced reporters alike have found Outlier’s flexible work arrangement appealing as either supplementary income or full-time employment.
The tasks typically involve fact-checking AI outputs, rating responses, and identifying hallucinations in model-generated content. Workers review real chat histories from products like ChatGPT and Meta AI, evaluating responses for accuracy and appropriateness.
Scale AI spokesperson Joe Osborne confirmed the company targets journalists because of their writing and text comprehension skills. The company also seeks journalists who speak less-represented languages to improve models’ multilingual capabilities.
Some journalists, however, have expressed concerns about contributing to technology that could potentially replace their profession. Others have reported inconsistent work availability and exposure to disturbing content without adequate support.
Despite these concerns, many journalists view this work as an opportunity to gain valuable experience with AI tools that are becoming increasingly prevalent in the workplace, while earning income in a challenging job market.