In recent years, leading artificial intelligence labs and startups have released AI software designed for tasks of ever-growing complexity, including solving PhD-level math problems, reasoning through complex questions step-by-step, and using tools like web browsers to carry out intricate tasks.
The role of AI engineers in making that happen is well-documented—and often well-compensated. But less publicized is the role of a growing army of freelance experts, from physicists and mathematicians to photographers and art critics, enlisted by companies specialized in AI training, itself a multibillion-dollar industry. Those companies say human wisdom is essential to create sample problems, solutions, and grading rubrics that help AI improve its performance in a wide range of fields.
“As long as AI matters, humans will matter,” says Aakash Sabharwal, vice president of engineering at AI training company Scale AI.
Scale AI recently made the news when Meta announced plans to invest $14.3 billion in the company—and hired away its then-CEO Alexandr Wang to lead a new “Superintelligence” lab focused on AI research. But the company remains a top player in the field, recruiting expert AI trainers in a wide variety of subjects and building digital environments Sabharwal compares to “flight simulators for AI,” where humans can help machines learn everything from sending business emails to writing code.
