Get Paid as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for AI Training and LLM Evaluation
Get Paid as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for AI Training and LLM Evaluation
AI companies are increasingly hiring domain experts (SMEs) to do work that non-experts can't do reliably: judge correctness, label edge cases, and write high-quality feedback that improves model behavior.
If you have real expertise in a field (medicine, law, finance, engineering, security, chess, etc.), you can get paid to help train and evaluate AI systems.
What SMEs Do in AI Training
Most expert work falls into a few common buckets:
- LLM evaluation: grade model outputs against a rubric (correctness, completeness, safety, style).
- Expert data annotation: create gold-standard labels for specialized datasets and edge cases.
- Quality assurance (QA) + adjudication: review other labels, resolve disagreements, tighten guidelines.
- Rubric and prompt design: define what “good” looks like so evaluation is consistent.
- Red-teaming: find failure modes in high-risk domains (jailbreaks, unsafe advice, compliance issues).
What the Work Looks Like (Examples)
- A clinician evaluates whether a model’s differential diagnosis is plausible and flags unsafe recommendations.
- An attorney reviews contract clause summaries for legal accuracy and missing risk.
- A senior engineer labels root-cause explanations and verifies that proposed fixes are correct.
- A high-rated chess player evaluates whether analysis is tactically sound and explains why alternatives fail.
How to Get Hired as an SME
- Pick a clear specialty (narrow beats broad): “ICU nursing” > “healthcare”, “tax law” > “law”.
- Show real credibility: credentials, years of experience, publications, portfolio, or recognized competitive ranking.
- Be consistent: follow rubrics precisely, explain decisions briefly, and call out uncertainty when it matters.
- Start with a pilot: most teams begin with calibration tasks before scaling hours or throughput.
If you want to be considered for paid expert projects, apply to become an expert.
Do You Need ML Experience?
Usually not. The most valuable skill is domain judgment. The work is often structured with rubrics, examples, and review cycles. Comfort with basic web tools and clear writing is typically enough.
FAQ
Is this remote?
Most projects are remote and asynchronous, but requirements vary by domain and client constraints.
How is expertise verified?
Verification can include credentials, work history, portfolios, references, and task-based calibration.
I’m a company looking to hire SMEs—where do I start?
If you're building an AI product and need expert labeling or LLM evaluation, explore our Hire Experts program.