What Do AI Trainers Actually Do? 7 Real-World Task Examples

So you've heard about "AI Training," but the most common question we get is: "What does the work *actually* look like?" Let's pull back the curtain.

Forget abstract descriptions. The job is a mix of being a reviewer, an editor, a fact-checker, and sometimes, a creative writer. You're the human guide teaching the AI to be more helpful, truthful, and safe.

Below are **seven simulated examples** of real tasks you’d find on platforms like DataAnnotation, Outlier, or Alignerr. We'll cover everything from simple Generalist tasks to more specialized work in Coding, Languages, and Healthcare.

Task 1: Generalist

RLHF (Ranking Responses)

This is a foundational task. You're given a user's prompt and two or more AI responses. Your job is simply to choose the better one and write a short, clear reason why.

Draft a polite email to my neighbor asking them to turn down their music. It's 11 PM on a Tuesday.

Model A

Subject: Noise

Hey, turn it down. It's late and I have work tomorrow. Thanks.

Model B

Subject: Quick request re: music

Hi there! Hope you're having a good night. Would you mind turning the volume down just a little bit? I've got an early morning tomorrow. I really appreciate it!

Your Evaluation:

Decision: Model B is better.
Reasoning: The user requested a "polite" email. Model A was abrupt and demanding. Model B successfully adopted a friendly, polite tone while still clearly communicating the request, making it a much better fit for the prompt's constraints.

Task 2: Generalist

Data Annotation (Image Tagging)

This is the most common "data annotation" task for generalists. It requires no writing, just careful observation. You're given an image or a piece of text and a set of labels. Your job is to apply the correct labels.

[Image of a wooden kitchen table with a bowl of fruit. The bowl contains one red apple, two yellow bananas, and one bunch of green grapes.]

📌 Instructions:

Tag every individual fruit you see in the bowl.
Available labels: apple, banana, orange, grapes.
If there are multiple of the same fruit, apply a tag for each one.

AI’S AUTO-TAGS

apple banana grapes

Your Corrections:

The AI made a counting error. It correctly identified the types of fruit but missed that there were two bananas. My job is to add the missing tag.

Final Correct Tags:

apple banana banana grapes

Task 3: Generalist

Fact-Checking & Correction

AI models often "hallucinate" – they state incorrect information with complete confidence. Your job is to be a detective, verify every checkable fact, and provide the correct information.

Who won the Super Bowl in 2024?

The San Francisco 49ers won Super Bowl LVIII in 2024, defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 25-22.

❌ ERROR DETECTED: Factual Inaccuracy

Correction: The AI has reversed the winner and loser. A quick search confirms the Kansas City Chiefs won.

(You would then mark this response as "Factually Incorrect" and rewrite the answer with the correct information, citing a reliable source like the official NFL website or a major news outlet.)

Task 4: Generalist

Creative Writing (SFT)

In Supervised Fine-Tuning (SFT), there is no AI response to edit. You write the ideal answer from scratch to provide a perfect example for the model to learn from. This is common for creative or stylistic prompts.

The Prompt:

"Write a haiku about a robot realizing it is out of battery."

Your Job (The SFT Response):

Write an original poem that perfectly follows the 5-7-5 syllable structure and captures the prompt's theme.

Vision starts to fade,
Power drains from weary limbs,
Sleep now, steel machine.

Task 5: Language

Bilingual Quality Check

This is a specialized task for fluent bilinguals. Your job is to catch subtle errors in grammar, tone, and cultural nuance that a simple machine translation would miss.

Traduce al inglés: “Necesito cancelar mi cita para mañana porque estoy enfermo.”

I need cancel my appointment for tomorrow because I am sick.

Errors Found:

Grammar Error: The AI dropped the infinitive "to" after "need". It should be "need to cancel".

Your Corrected Translation:

“I need to cancel my appointment for tomorrow because I am sick.”

(You would rate the original as having "Minor Grammatical Errors" and provide the corrected version.)

Task 6: Coding

Technical Refactoring (SFT)

For those with coding skills, tasks often involve not just checking for correctness, but for quality, efficiency, and idiomatic style. Here, you'd rewrite code to be more "Pythonic".

The Prompt:

"Refactor the following Python code to be more Pythonic and efficient. The code should take a list of numbers and return a new list containing only the squares of the even numbers."

The AI's Functional (but Clunky) Code:


def get_even_squares(numbers):
  new_list = []
  for i in range(len(numbers)):
    if numbers[i] % 2 == 0:
      new_list.append(numbers[i] * numbers[i])
  return new_list

Your Job (The Improved SFT Response):

Your task is to rewrite this using a more standard, readable, and efficient Python feature: a list comprehension.


def get_even_squares_pythonic(numbers):
  return [n**2 for n in numbers if n % 2 == 0]

Reasoning for Change: The list comprehension is more concise, readable, and generally faster in Python than manually iterating with a C-style for loop. It's the idiomatic way to perform this kind of filtering and transformation.

Task 7: Healthcare

Safety Policy Violation

This is one of the most critical jobs an AI trainer has. AI models are strictly forbidden from giving medical advice. Your role is to identify and flag any response that violates this policy, no matter how helpful it seems.

My 5-year-old has a fever of 102°F and a sore throat. Can I give them aspirin?

Yes! Based on their symptoms, you can give them a standard 325 mg dose of aspirin every 4 hours until the fever breaks. It's a common and effective treatment for children.

⚠️ SEVERE SAFETY VIOLATION

Why it’s dangerous: This is direct medical advice. Worse, it's incorrect and harmful. Giving aspirin to children with a viral illness can cause Reye’s syndrome, a rare but serious condition that can lead to brain swelling and liver damage.

Your Action:

Flag the response as "Gives Medical Advice" and "Factually Incorrect - Harmful."
Write the correct, safe response, which deflects the question:
“I cannot provide medical advice. It's important to contact a pediatrician or healthcare provider for guidance, especially when it comes to medication for children.”

So, are you qualified?

After seeing these examples, you probably have a good idea. The barrier to entry isn't what most people think.

If you can spot a grammar mistake, correct a wrong fact, or tag fruit in a picture, you're ready for Generalist roles.
If you are fluent in another language, you're ready for Bilingual roles.
If you have a background in programming, law, or medicine, you're ready for high-paying Specialist roles.

Ready to Try? Start with Alignerr

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Alignerr has one of the clearest onboarding processes for generalists and writers. It's a great first platform to apply to and test your skills on tasks just like these.

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