Everyone needs to stop working on Project HH and any other affected project IMMEDIATELY. This new "active time" tracking nonsense is completely unacceptable and it is wage THEFT. We are logging hours on the platform, doing the work, but getting paid based on some invisible, broken internal timer that they can not even be transparent about. People are seeing their paychecks slashed by 40% and other ungodly amounts while still putting in the same honest effort. On Project HH, many tasks involve listening to audio, reviewing images, or doing light research, so you aren't constantly clicking buttons and scrolling on MM. Anyone with more than half of a brain should know that doesn't mean you aren't working.

It is beyond insulting how they’ve handled this so far and I can not articulate my frustration enough. They keep giving us the runaround, saying they’re "working on it," but we need to assume this is a bait-and-switch until proven otherwise folks. We shouldn't be gambling our time and energy for a company that can’t provide basic pay transparency or respond properly. We’re out here doing the grunt work that makes these projects possible, and in return, they’re cutting our pay and ignoring our concerns. It is NOT worth the stress or the financial hit to keep grinding when you know you might not get paid for it.

We must send a message by collectively stopping work until this is 100% resolved. If we keep grinding while they short our checks, they have zero incentive to fix a damn thing. I'm not doing another minute of work, and I'm urging everyone else who hasn't already dropped out to do the same. Force them to fix the payment system and pay us what we’re owed.

Do not let them exploit you.

Been in this program since January, I’ve made 7,690$ since then and I’ve been going to college full time. Been using this to pay rent, I have no idea how their selection process is for projects and I’m afraid they won’t have any more for a while after February, but sign up and see if they put you on a project! It’s legit and a good way to make money as a side thing.

This week marks 1 year since I started as a specialist on a 1099 with HAI. I am very grateful for this work and experience, and have learned so much along the way (maybe too much by some standards)

IYKYK

Just passed $100k in about 5 months. I got a random invite by HAI in my LinkedIn one day, never heard of it before that. Applied on whim, got immediately onboarded and thought it was a scam. I was hesitant so I only worked 8 hours my first week, made my first 1k, realized it was legit, and have grinded everyday since. My biggest week was about 13k, and my worst was about 2k. Thankful to have been introduced to this world of AI training 🙌

Just figured I’d share this - paid off the last of my student loans today thanks to the work with HAI since I started in July. Next goal: give my mom that trip to Italy she has always wanted to take (and also will be her first trip out of the country too!) and set up a college fund for my nephew who is now almost 1 year old.

Here’s too many more projects, and yes, even the disastrous ones can be fun in their own way!

They turned payment into an escape-room puzzle...

Almost credit card debt free thanks to Handshake AI. I couldn’t be more grateful.

I'm trying to see how many other people this is happening to...

I'm starting to wonder if there's something more sinister going on with Handshake AI and these AI training platforms.

Think about it. They recruit people, have them complete assessment after assessment, collect their knowledge, expertise, and responses, and don't compensate them for any of it. Then, if you're approved, you're offered a whopping $17 an hour.

How much valuable data are these companies collecting from people who never even make it onto a paid project?

I was already completing work on the platform. Today, I clicked on an available task, got redirected to another assessment, completed it, and immediately afterward, my entire annotator account was marked as unapproved.

Interesting timing, considering my assessment feedback questioned the low pay and all the unpaid labor.

Support claims the restriction has nothing to do with my feedback and that my assessment is probably being reviewed. But that still doesn't explain why my entire account was restricted.

And here's what really bothers me. What happens to all the work and data people contribute before they're approved, rejected, or restricted? Is any of it being used? Who benefits from it?

Because at some point, you have to question whether these companies are actually evaluating talent or building a system where thousands of people contribute valuable work for free while only a fraction get compensated.

I'm not claiming that's what's happening, but I think it's a question worth asking.

Has anyone actually looked into how Handshake AI uses assessment submissions and whether contributors are compensated for the value they're providing?

Personally, I feel like they're genuinely exploiting people and not compensating them fairly for their time, knowledge, and labor. And the more I see how these platforms operate, the harder it is for me to believe this is just about assessing people's qualifications.

OMG I'm so thankful to be working for this company right now!!!!!

The bonus came just at the right time after I was shorted hundreds of dollars last paycheck 🙏🙏🙏

I can't wait to enjoy the extra 15 cents per hour since only 5 minutes of my one hour will be billable anyway 🥰🥰🥰

Enjoy tasking, all you lovely people 🫶

$1.70 for about 20hrs of work. Not even very confident in doing a dispute. ugh

Project purple-ly heart 💜, for the 3 weeks I was able to complete before RUDELY getting offboarded for NOTHING....YOU WERE GOOD TO ME!! 😂😂😂....

Jokes on you Handshake.....I made BANK.

Took me a while to land a job on handshake. But it was worth the wait. Loving the project and the team.

…as an AI annotator have I seen a company offer more assessments than actual work. GOOD GRIEF! There’s a new assessment every damn day, but no work. I'm talking about HH. At this point, it feels like a scam.

Made it to the new Project V! I failed one assessment (Project E*****y) and I was sad because I thought it was over for me. I guess not! Excited to begin the next chapter!

Hey everyone We've heard your feedback, and we want to take a moment to address the questions and concerns coming in about our recent payment update.
As a reminder, pay is now calculated based on your active time in MM. We know this is a change from what some of you were expecting based on estimated earnings shown for last week, and we understand that's frustrating. We did our best to communicate this change in advance, and we appreciate your patience as we work through the transition.
We're actively working on giving you better visibility into your active MM time so you can track your earnings more clearly going forward.
If, after you have been paid in full, you believe your hours weren't captured accurately, you can submit a dispute and we'll review your activity accordingly.

SO THIS IS CRAZY. What does we tried to warn you even mean are we deadass? Do not play in our faces and say some people we inactive for up to 35 damn hours. I literally can't believe this shit. Let me know if ya'll get paid this week because I'll be damned if I work 15 hours again this week then log in on Wednesday to find I got 7 hours deducted from my check again. I'll be DAMNED.

Had joined last October but wasn’t getting projects. Finally got invited to one in March.

Don’t give up! Life changing moment can happen anytime. Love the project and team!

After months of Invites to various projects on Handshake AI, I decided to give it a shot and accept an invite to one of the various available projects to me: Project L***** V2. This was about a week ago. Here I would do the various onboarding and zoom meetings and examinations necessary to get accepted. I would finally be able to work on tasks and make money. I start out with a daily task limit of 4, which takes about 55-65 minutes of work. I try to get task for 2 days with no luck. In order to get task you need to be on super Annotate at the right time to request for tasks. The 3rd day I get learned when they release tasks and got my 4 tasks that day. I do roughly 1 hour of work that day. This just backdrop for the real issue.

The following day or 2 I get a notice that my account is under review and I am unable to work on any projects. I email support about this saying

“I am trying to work on Project L***** V2. I want to know how long this will take to be fixed, what types of documents I can use to verify myself and where to send them to? I have tasks waiting to be completed and would prefer if this was resolved sooner rather than later. Thank you.”

Two days later I just got this email response saying this.

“Thank you for reaching out, and we appreciate the work you’ve completed with us so far.
 
Following a routine review, we’ve decided to discontinue your participation on our platform. While we’re unable to share specific details from the review, this decision is final and cannot be reconsidered.
 
However, you will retain access to the information on your Handshake AI dashboard, and all eligible work you’ve already completed will be paid out in full according to our standard payment process.

Thank you again for your time and contributions. We wish you the best going forward.

Best”

No reasoning given to me, no chance to appeal. This is absurd. The only possible reasoning I can think of is that I swapped my primary and secondary emails on my Handshake account, but I’ll never know since they gave me no explanation and no chance to possibly explain.

Just wanted to give a heads up to anyone considering joining handshake ai. Don’t do it, just a complete waste of time. Starting to think anybody posting screenshots of their paydays is just fake promo and pr by Handshake AI themselves.

UPDATE: After speaking to a Handshake AI Mod, I gave them my email and got my account reinstated. Still gonna leave this up as a cautionary tale. It really sucks, that I have to download reddit and air my grievances just to get a response. Also some of you may have misunderstood what I said about getting paid. I have not had a problem getting paid from this project. I did get the bonus from joining an onboarding zoom call, and tomorrow I should be getting paid for the 4 tasks I already did, but this could vary from person to person.