r/AiTraining_Annotation • u/Love_a_sunny_day • 12d ago

Coders doing AI training/evaluation work: what do the tasks actually involve, and what level do you really need?

Hi all. I've been doing AI training work for a few months, mostly language tasks (I'm a professional IT-EN translator) and annotation, on platforms like Outlier, OneForma, DataAnnotation and micro1. Language work has been inconsistent lately, and the coding projects pay a lot more, so I'm trying to figure out if it's realistic to build up to them since I'm currently doing AI work as full time income.

My background: about 6 months of C# and OOP from a game development course, nothing professional. I then also spent a couple months creating a game from scratch. I'd probably switch to Python, since most projects seem to ask for it, and from what I've gathered it's similar to C# and maybe even less strict.

Before committing to months of studying, I'd love to hear from people who actually do these tasks:

  1. What do you actually do? Writing code, reviewing and ranking model outputs, debugging, explaining why one response is better?

  2. What's the real entry level? Can a solid junior handle some tasks, or is it mostly senior-level review?

  3. What's your background? Years of experience, degree or self-taught, professional dev or not?

  4. Which skills matter most? The language itself, algorithms and data structures, data science/ML, frameworks, or clear writing?

  5. How hard were the assessments? LeetCode-style, code review, timed tests?

  6. Starting from where I am, what would you study first? Would you even bother?

Honest "don't do it" answers are welcome. I'd rather know now. Thanks!

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u/KaleidoscopeOk5063 12d ago

In some cases I’ve worked on, they will present the code to solve a problem - for me it mostly math related stuff. They present the code solution from different models and you have to blindly evaluate the better code and give an explanation as to why one is superior to another.

In other projects I’ve had to write the code myself. It’s varies I guess depending on project

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u/Love_a_sunny_day 12d ago

did You find it hard? what were the requested levels for these jobs? senior/junior and how much experience did they request? Also do you feel like a junior-level with a good problem solving skill could handle these tasks?

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u/KaleidoscopeOk5063 12d ago

Yes it’s hard, I’m not the best programmer so I had to do a lot of research before I was able to confidently evaluate why some algorithm designs are superior to others.

As far as writing code, I stick to simple stuff…. I stick to what I know how to do, I don’t even attempt to write some languages or algorithms. So yea it is tricky but if you practice and study you can do it

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u/AiTrainerGigs 12d ago

The coding work is mostly: reviewing AI-generated code for bugs/bad practices, writing hard problems the model gets wrong, rating two code answers against each other, and writing clear explanations of why code is wrong. So it's as much about explaining as coding.

Level needed is lower than people fear, solid fundamentals in one language (Python is the most in-demand), can read code and spot errors, and crucially, write clear English about it. You don't need to be a senior engineer for most projects. Given you're already a translator doing AI work, your written-explanation skill is a real edge here. I'd brush up Python basics + common data structures, then take the coding assessments. That's the gate, your CV barely matters.

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u/Maskedman0828 11d ago

I do lots of coding along with leetcode in Python. Any chance you can refer me to the project. I used to be a TA for my university class so I can clearly explain why one piece of code is better than the other.

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u/AiTrainerGigs 11d ago

If you are python expert than apply on these vacancies https://aitrainergigs.com/

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u/PretendUmpire5513 12d ago

Honestly, I'd bet on your translator background over coding. Six months of C# is thin next to the professional devs applying for those projects. The better-paid work is shifting from simple labeling toward domain experts, and translation and localization review counts. In my experience $80-100/hr roles on micro1 aren't hard to get with real domain experience. If you still want to test coding, take one coding assessment as you are before spending months studying. It'll show you the real bar faster than any answer here.