AI Data Annotation Specialist
Impact: AI model quality through accurate and consistent data annotation
Label, tag, and annotate data to train and improve AI and machine learning models. Work with images, text, audio, and video datasets to create high-quality training data, follow annotation guidelines, maintain quality standards, and use annotation tools to produce the labelled datasets that power AI systems.
What the day looks like
- People interaction
- Moderate
- Team vs solo
- 60% Team / 40% Solo
- Client facing
- Rarely
- Impact visibility
- Moderate
- Travel
- Minimal travel required
- Schedule flexibility
- Very Flexible
- Remote work
- Hybrid
- Typical work hours
- 35 to 45 hours/week
- Stress level
- Low
At a glance
- Median salary
- $70,000
- Entry-level
- $35,000 - $50,000
- Senior
- $110,000+
- Growth by 2033
- 20% (faster than average)
- Demand
- Growing
- Freelance potential
- Very Low
- Salary growth potential
- Moderate - 50 to 65% growth from entry to senior
- Typical student debt
- Low
Skills you'll use
Hard skills
- 70
Soft skills
- 30
Technical complexity: Moderate
How to get there
- Minimum education
- High School Diploma
- Licensing
- No
- Years to mid-career
- 0 to 1 years
- Years to senior
- 2 to 4 years
- Career switching
- Easy
Where this career leads
How people arrive here
Where you can go from here
Typical progression
- Data Annotator > Senior Data Annotator > Annotation Team Lead > Training Data Manager > Head of AI Data
Future outlook
- Automation probability
- 40% high risk as AI automates more annotation tasks
- AI disruption risk
- High
- Demand trend
- Growing
How people feel about it
- Overall satisfaction
- 7/10
- Meaning
- 7/10
- Work-life balance
- 6.5/10
- Prestige
- 7/10
- Social perception
- High