Skilled Workers Turn to AI Training

Experienced professionals aged 50+ are increasingly accepting contract annotation and model‑evaluation gigs — often paid hourly without benefits — as temporary 'bridge jobs' after layoffs or when facing age‑biased hiring. The work ranges from low‑paid tagging up to high‑paid subject‑matter review (some report rates up to $180/hour), but is typically unstable and could be training tools that eventually replace them. — If widespread, this trend reframes AI’s labor impact: not only are entry jobs at risk, but displaced senior expertise is being absorbed into the very workflows that scale automation, with implications for retirement security, age discrimination, and the structure of professional careers.