GoKawiilPhD holders moonlight as AI trainers for Turing and Mercor
Highly credentialed professionals—including a PhD candidate in game theory who also works at EY and teaches at the London School of Economics—are taking on side gigs training AI models for companies like Turing and Mercor. These workers describe being recruited via messages such as LinkedIn outreach, and say the work involves feeding their specialized expertise into AI systems being developed by these firms.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The trend suggests AI companies are increasingly targeting elite, highly educated workers rather than only gig-economy labor to build more capable models, which could accelerate AI's ability to perform sophisticated intellectual tasks. Workers quoted frame the work as intellectually stimulating, even as it may contribute to automating roles similar to their own, highlighting a tension between short-term reward and longer-term professional risk.
- Elite professionals with advanced degrees are taking paid side jobs training AI models for companies like Turing and Mercor.
- Recruitment appears to happen through informal channels such as LinkedIn messages targeting specialized experts.
- Workers describe the training work as intellectually engaging despite its potential to automate jobs like their own.
Source: fastcompany.com, 2026-10-01
Published there as: “The smartest people in the world are automating themselves into obsolescence—and loving it”
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