CrowdGen Review: Is Getting Paid to Train AI Actually Worth It?

Unless you are living under a rock, you’ve heard AI (Artificial Intelligence) is the latest technology craze. These computer systems include LLM’s (Large Language Models) that are able to generate text and image results based on data they have scraped from the Internet. The issue is that a lot of the results the LLM’s produce can be incorrect and to fix the problem it requires human feedback. This is where CrowdGen comes in. The pitch is simple: you get paid to help train AI. However, like most things that sound amazing at first glance, the real story is a little more complicated. I dug into the details so you don’t have to.

Quick Facts

What’s Inside

• Is CrowdGen real and safe?
• How hard is it to sign up?
• Can I do this whenever I want?
• How much money can you really make?
• When and how do you get paid?
• What stuff do you need to start?
• Is the work easy or hard?
• The Pros and Cons of CrowdGen
• Final Verdict: Is CrowdGen worth your time?
• Frequently Asked Questions

Is CrowdGen real and safe?

CrowdGen is a real company and legitimate gig. We can confidently say this because it is owned by Appen, a publicly traded on the Australian Securities Exchange since 1996. Appen claims, and we tend to believe them, that 80% of the world’s leading AI model builders are their customers. This said, the company having credibility doesn’t automatically mean it is a great gig. Frankly, contributor reviews online are mixed, with real concerns about project availability and slow support.

How hard is it to sign up?

While it’s incredibly easy to create a basic account with Crowdgen, the real issue is landing actual work. This takes time and patience. Every single project has its own qualification process: Quizzes, test tasks, and ID verification are normal for each opportunity and what’s super annoying is that you usually have to repeat the process for each project you apply to.

Similar to survey websites, you can spend a ton of time “pre-qualifying” only to learn after the fact a project is already full or inactive. To say this is annoying and a massive turn off is an understatement. In our experience, most users will not sign up and instantly start earning. Expect the process to take days or even weeks before you see your first task.

💡 Insider Tip:
Tread CrowdGen like you do survey websites. Take the time to fill out your profile as completely as possible before applying to anything.

Can I do this whenever I want?

Let’s assume you are accepted to a project. In this case, you actually can set your own hours as long as you hit the weekly commitment the project requires. The bigger issue goes back to work availability itself and getting initially accepted to participate in a project. Opportunities can go quiet without any warning and many contributors experience busy stretches followed by weeks of nothing. Treat this as a flexible side income, not a reliable weekly paycheck. We can’t stress enough how similar the setup is to paid survey websites.

How much money can you really make?

Where it for sure is better than paid survey websites is the pay. Most standard projects will pay you between $10 to $19 per hour, with some specialized language or domain tasks paying more. The good news is that you will know what you are getting into before putting in the effort to apply to a project as CrowdGen does state the pay rates upfront before you commit. A genuine positive.

Living in reality, a consistent contributor can earn around $200 to $500 per month as a side income. Remember though, this can fall to nadda if projects run dry and trust us, they will. Do not treat this as anything more than supplemental income.

When and how do you get paid?

You are paid for this gig on a monthly basis, typically by the 15th of the following month, but some users report it is quicker than that. This mean if you complete work in January, you are usually paid by the 15th of February. The process is fairly straight forward where you will submit your hours, go through a brief reconciliation period where Crowdgen essentially confirms what you are saying is true for about a week and then payment goes out.

Your payment options are bank transfer, PayPal, Payoneer, and a couple others that are mainly for international users. We note that direct bank transfer is the most cost-effective since the others will have processing fees attached and direct transfer does not.

What stuff do you need to start?

You need a computer, a reliable internet connection, and a smartphone (for some projects). You’ll need a pre-existing LinkedIn profile for when you sign-up. You will also need to submit a government-issued ID for identity verification. Everything will run in your web browser so you won’t need to download any special softwre or anything.

Is the work easy or hard?

The work itself is very repetitive. By no means is it hard, but it can be tough doing the same task over and over. The majority of projects are rating AI-generated responses. This can be if responses it makes logical sense, if responses are translated properly and in some cases transcribing audio.

It is not technical work because they want the “crowd” (like their name says) to be a casual audience like the eventual customer who uses the AI software. One thing many people don’t know and CrowdGen notes in their terms, is that some projects may involve reviewing sensitive content, which is standard across the AI training data industry. Just be aware of this going in.

The Pros and Cons of CrowdGen

Final Verdict: Is CrowdGen worth your time?

If you treat it like you do a survey website, aka an extra way to earn some money without much predictability or massive earning potential, it’s solid. Especially if you consider yourself patient and detail-oriented. The work is easy to learn, the hours are flexible, and the company has serious credibility behind it.

The Bottom Line: CrowdGen is worth signing up for if you have realistic expectations, treat it like a slow-burn side income, and you might be pleasantly surprised.

Frequently Asked Questions