Unemployed Workers Hired to Train AI That Will Replace Them - The Dark Reality of Tech's Latest Trend

The AI Paradox: Training Your Own Replacement

Economic uncertainty continues to devastate job availability across the United States. Last year, the US labor market experienced slowing wages, widespread layoffs, and a significant lack of hiring, leading to the highest unemployment rate in four years by the end of 2025.

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While debates rage about whether AI is actually replacing jobs in substantial numbers, many tech startups are actively working to make this a reality. According to a Wall Street Journal report, a prominent San Francisco-based AI company called Mercor is hiring desperate job-seekers for what many consider a particularly grim task: training AI models to eventually perform the very work these individuals used to do.

A Growing Concern

This development comes as concerns about AI replacing jobs en masse continue to escalate. Late last year, computer scientist and AI "godfather" Geoffrey Hinton predicted that AI would continue to "replace many, many jobs" in 2026 as the technology "gets even better."

An MIT study from last year found that more than 20 million Americans' work could be replaced with today's AI, representing approximately $1.2 trillion in wage value.

The Human Experience

Paying people who are already struggling in a difficult job market to train their future replacements represents a twisted new reality in the age of artificial intelligence.

"I joked with my friends I'm training AI to take my job someday," said 30-year-old video editor Katie Williams, who has been captioning and rating video clips for Mercor for six months.

Automotive journalist Peter Valdes-Dapena, who was laid off in 2024, has been critiquing AI-generated news articles for Mercor. While recognizing the irony, he rationalizes his participation: "I didn't invent AI and I'm not going to uninvent it. If I were to stop doing this, would that stop it? The answer is no."

Company Practices and Worker Conditions

Mercor hired tens of thousands of contractors last year after signing partnerships with AI industry leaders including OpenAI and Anthropic. However, job security and stable income appear elusive. The company suddenly fired thousands of data labelers last year, only to rehire them for similar projects at considerably lower pay.

According to a company spokeswoman, contractors must install time-tracking software on their computers to ensure they aren't cutting corners. Some workers were even caught using AI to rate AI model outputs.

Skepticism About AI Capabilities

Despite the concerns, some remain skeptical about AI's ability to completely replace human workers. Lawyer Sara Kubik, who supplements her income by working for Mercor, told reporters that the work has "taught me the limitations of AI."

Researchers have found that companies may be massively overestimating what AI can actually accomplish. A Carnegie Mellon University study revealed that even the best AI models available at the time failed to complete real-world office tasks 70 percent of the time.