Best AI Training Platforms Like Outlier.ai

For those seeking opportunities to contribute to AI development through data annotation, evaluation, and content generation, several platforms offer similar services to Outlier.ai.

These alternatives cater to a range of expertise levels and task preferences, providing flexible remote work options.

1. Appen

• Overview: Appen is one of the largest and most established global crowdsourcing platforms for data annotation and AI training. It serves major tech companies by collecting and labeling data for machine learning models.
• Key Features:
  • Diverse Project Types: Offers a vast array of projects, including search engine evaluation, social media content moderation, image annotation, speech transcription, text categorization, and linguistic annotation.
  • Global Reach: Projects are available in numerous languages and countries, attracting a diverse workforce.
  • Flexibility: Most projects offer flexible hours, allowing contributors to work at their convenience.
  • Client Base: Works with many of the world’s leading technology companies.
• Typical Tasks: Data collection (e.g., recording speech), transcription, image and video annotation (e.g., drawing bounding boxes around objects), text categorization, relevance judging (evaluating search results).
• Pros: Very reputable, large volume of potential work, wide variety of tasks, good for building experience in AI data.
• Cons: Qualification tests can be rigorous and time-consuming, project availability can fluctuate, pay rates vary significantly and can be low for simpler tasks.
• Similar to Outlier.ai in: Leveraging human intelligence for AI, project diversity, remote flexibility.
• Appen Website

2. Telus International AI Community (formerly Lionbridge AI)

• Overview: Telus International AI Community is another major player in the AI data services market, providing human intelligence to improve AI models. They are particularly known for their search engine and social media evaluation projects.
  • Focus on Evaluation: Strong emphasis on evaluative tasks, such as assessing the relevance and quality of search engine results, social media feeds, and ads.
  • Long-Term Projects: Often offers more stable, long-term projects compared to microtask platforms, once qualified.
  • Linguistic Expertise: Many projects require high levels of linguistic and cultural expertise for localization and language quality assessment.
  • Structured Training: Provides detailed guidelines and training for each project.
• Typical Tasks: Search engine evaluator, social media evaluator, ad rater, transcriber, linguistic annotator, map quality analyst.
• Pros: Reputable company, competitive hourly pay for many roles, often provides steady work for qualified evaluators, clear guidelines.
• Cons: Very strict application and qualification process, limited roles compared to broader microtask platforms, may have long waitlists for certain projects.
• Similar to Outlier.ai in: Professional approach, requiring specific expertise, focused on high-quality AI data.
• Telus International AI Community Website

3. Remotasks

• Overview: Remotasks is a microtask platform that focuses on providing data annotation services for AI. It’s often seen as an entry-level platform for those looking to get into AI data work.
  • Microtask Focus: Tasks are generally broken down into small, manageable units that can be completed quickly.
  • Beginner-Friendly: Many tasks do not require prior experience, and the platform provides self-paced training modules.
  • Variety of Tasks: Includes image annotation (e.g., bounding boxes, cuboids), transcription, categorization, content moderation, and LiDAR annotation.
  • Immediate Access: Often allows users to start working on simpler tasks relatively quickly after signing up.
• Typical Tasks: Categorizing images, transcribing audio, labeling objects in videos, creating 3D point cloud annotations.
• Pros: Easy to get started, flexible hours, diverse set of simple tasks, frequent new tasks available.
• Cons: Pay per task is generally lower, tasks can be highly repetitive, quality control can be strict, leading to account suspension for poor performance.
• Similar to Outlier.ai in: Remote work, flexible hours, contributing to AI data.
• Remotasks Website

4. Clickworker

• Overview: Clickworker is a crowdsourcing platform that offers a variety of microtasks and larger projects to a global community of “Clickworkers.” These tasks contribute to AI training, e-commerce optimization, and content creation.
  • Diverse Work Types: Offers tasks like text creation, data categorization, proofreading, sentiment analysis, search engine evaluation, and mobile app testing.
  • UHRS Platform: Many tasks are accessed through the Universal Human Relevance System (UHRS), a separate platform requiring qualification.
  • Flexible Schedule: Users can pick and choose tasks as they become available.
  • Weekly Payments: Offers fast payouts, often weekly, once a minimum threshold is reached.
• Typical Tasks: Writing product descriptions, categorizing web pages, transcribing audio, evaluating search results, validating data.
• Pros: Accessible to many, good variety of tasks (especially through UHRS), flexible, relatively quick payments.
• Cons: Pay can be low for many tasks, competition for higher-paying tasks, account can be deactivated for low quality on UHRS.
• Similar to Outlier.ai in: Microtasking approach, contributing to AI data, remote flexibility.
• Clickworker Website

5. Scale AI (Directly)

• Overview: Since Outlier.ai is “Powered by Scale AI,” it’s worth considering applying directly to Scale AI itself. Scale AI directly hires for various roles, including full-time positions and more involved contract work, sometimes beyond what’s available through Outlier.ai.
  • Advanced AI Data Solutions: Works on more complex and cutting-edge AI projects.
  • Diverse Roles: Offers roles ranging from data annotators to data scientists, project managers, and engineers.
  • Industry Leadership: As a leader in the AI data space, working directly with Scale AI could offer deeper engagement with key AI clients and technologies.
• Typical Tasks: High-complexity data annotation, synthetic data generation, sensor data labeling, AI model evaluation, and specialized consulting.
• Pros: Opportunity for higher-level work, direct engagement with a top AI company, potentially better pay and benefits for some roles.
• Cons: More stringent application process, fewer entry-level positions, may require more specific technical skills.
• Similar to Outlier.ai in: Core mission of improving AI, but potentially at a more integrated level.
• Scale AI Website

Each of these platforms offers a viable pathway for individuals to contribute to the advancement of AI, with varying degrees of task complexity, pay, and entry barriers.

Choosing the best alternative depends on one’s specific skills, time availability, and career goals.