I couldn't land a job, so I started AI training for $15 an hour. Now I make $100 an hour and built a career around AI.

This is an as-told-essay based connected a speech pinch Mo Zohourian, who useful arsenic a contractor for AI training companies, specializing successful income management. His activity and task rates person been confirmed by Business Insider. Zohourian besides consults connected AI for mini businesses and founded Annotation Academy, an acquisition level for AI training. This communicative has been edited for magnitude and clarity.

I moved to Canada from Iran successful 2023 and started searching for jobs. I had 15 years of acquisition successful entrepreneurship and income management, but aft back-to-back interviews, I was not getting hired.

I had been applying for astir 10 months erstwhile I saw an advertisement connected LinkedIn offering activity for $15 per hr to train AI, nary acquisition needed. Because I didn't person a job, I said, "Okay, I'll springiness it a shot," but I was skeptical. I didn't moreover show my woman that I started doing it until I received the first payment.

A fewer years later, I've built a profession astir AI. I now gain $100 per hr connected AI evaluation arsenic a master successful income management. I besides consult for mini businesses connected really to usage AI and person launched a level to thatch others really to go AI trainers.

It's been crazy. I ne'er thought that AI would beryllium my occupation erstwhile I started doing it.

My income acquisition helped maine move connected to higher-paying AI training projects

Initially, the activity was inconsistent, and I was still looking for full-time jobs.

About 3 months in, I sewage a task for $30 an hour. The institution I was doing activity for had assessments you could take, and by passing them, you would beryllium eligible to activity connected much important projects. I took and passed assessments for English literature, reasoning, and mathematics. I started making $35 an hour.

I started doing activity for aggregate companies. Sometimes I'd make $45 an hr connected a project, different times $70. There isn't a baseline. Sometimes a task pays little than the 1 you did earlier it. As a freelancer, you don't person the aforesaid leverage. It is what it is. You tin return it aliases time off it.

Everything changed erstwhile the master jobs started to show. The biggest jump successful salary and accordant activity was erstwhile I started getting assigned income projects, because that was my expertise.

Initially, the expert projects were constricted to STEM fields specified arsenic physics, chemistry, and coding. As soon arsenic they started to look for income experts, I already had a bully way grounds of high-quality tasks connected each the platforms, truthful I was capable to get connected projects. If I hadn't had a history connected these platforms, I don't deliberation I would've gotten the higher-paying income projects.

Now I activity arsenic a income head master connected high-stakes projects. I've been consistently getting connected projects for $100 an hr for the past 10 months.

These projects are truthful different from erstwhile I started AI evaluation, erstwhile everything was truthful easy — conscionable penning a prompt, penning 2 responses, and penning a elemental justification. Now, pinch agentic AI and the much powerful models, the tasks are wholly different and much complex.

I activity a lot, but AI training gave maine elasticity and the state to commencement my ain business

I stopped applying to full-time jobs astir 3 months aft I started AI evaluation, but I still thought AI training was a modulation job. It wasn't until astir a twelvemonth of AI training that I was judge it was what I wanted to do.

I typically walk 20 to 40 hours a week connected AI training. There whitethorn beryllium a one- to two-week pause, aliases moreover a monthlong pause, successful a project. I ever person the action to commencement different project. But because I person my ain business, I usage those windows to beryllium much focused connected what I americium doing personally.

Currently, my privilege is my business. I started a patient arsenic an AI consultant helping mini businesses usage AI to beryllium much efficient. I sewage my first client, a repast prep company, done personification I met astatine a statement past year. I besides launched Annotation Academy, an online level wherever I thatch group really to do AI evaluation. I sewage my first paying customer for that connected motorboat time successful June.

I activity a lot, from early successful the greeting to precocious astatine night. But because I tin group my ain schedule, I still person the luxury of spending clip pinch my boy — dropping him off, picking him up, taking him to classes. I tin unrecorded a life that I emotion successful a measurement that I could not if I had a full-time job.

My businesses are profitable, but I don't salary myself a net from them. Because of my AI information job, I tin reinvest that money into the institution for early description and unrecorded connected my income from AI evaluation.

When I started AI training, I had immoderate savings and was not nether awesome financial pressure. That helped maine enactment successful AI information erstwhile the activity was inconsistent. The tasks were besides overmuch simpler then, truthful I was capable to turn successful the activity arsenic the tasks became much difficult. But location is simply a immense request correct now for group who tin present and who person domain expertise.

This occupation changed my life successful a bully way. After moving successful income for 15 years, I was attached to it. You deliberation you tin create faster successful an manufacture that you built a instauration on. But for me, I could ne'er find the speedy advancement that I recovered successful AI training.