Hollywood Writer Describes AI Training Contracts as Primary Income Source

A Hollywood screenwriter and showrunner has taken on AI training contracts as a main source of income after traditional television work slowed. The writer, who operates under platform names such as ri611 and h924092b12ee797f, evaluates chatbot tone, identifies patterns in furniture images, removes strangers from group photos, annotates videos with precise timestamps for events like a dog barking or a balloon popping, and participates in red-team safety testing.

Tasks have included generating anime sex scenes, simulating decapitations, prompting large language models for instructions on homemade bombs, and creating invitations to a simulated reprise of the January 6 event at the White House. The individual has worked for companies including Mercor, Outlier, Task-ify, Turing, Handshake and Micro1.

In the writer's primary career, created prime-time television series appear on Paramount, Hulu and the BBC.

In 2023, Hollywood writers and actors went on strike for nearly five months, partly to address concerns over studios using artificial intelligence to replace human roles. After the strike concluded, industry momentum did not fully recover. In early 2025, following a producer's default on a six-figure payment owed for creating a television show, the writer began seeking additional income.

A comment in an unofficial Writers Guild of America Facebook group mentioned Mercor paying $150 an hour for writers, prompting the first application. The onboarding process required 10 job applications, 20 unpaid hours of tests, and an interview with an AI recruiter.

The writer started in September 2025 as a generalist data annotator at $52 an hour, later advancing to an expert role at $70 an hour.

Initial assignments involved reviewing conversations between users and large language model assistants, grading responses from 1 to 5 according to a provided guideline, and writing justifications. User prompts often addressed personal concerns such as whether feelings were justified, if behavior was acceptable, or if the user was lovable.

Projects typically lasted a set number of weeks but could end abruptly. One assignment expected 20 hours per week for two months but concluded after two weeks at 10 hours per week when the project was discontinued without prior notice. The associated Slack channels, Airtables and office hours were shut down within hours.

A project manager, described as a 22-year-old recent university graduate, oversaw team leaders and data managers. Office hours emphasized following scoring guidelines precisely and avoiding original phrasing that might affect model training.

Contracting companies describe their platforms as offering flexibility, stating that workers choose when and how much to work. One team leader clarified in a message that the arrangements are tasks rather than jobs and should be treated as a second income source rather than a reliable primary one.

The writer has completed 20 such contracts in eight months while continuing to identify as a Hollywood writer and showrunner. The experience is presented as common among screenwriters and job seekers facing reduced opportunities in traditional media.

The article draws from a first-person account published by Wired.