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AI paid Amanda Overcash nearly $8,000 in under three weeks for training chatbots
AI PAID ME · RECEIPTCHECKED OCT 15, 2026
- Paid to
- Amanda Overcash, a single mom in Texas who works in real estate
- For
- Part-time AI training work: rating chatbot answers, transcribing audio, and labeling images
- Tools used
- Appen, OneForma, Prolific, Outlier, Amazon Mechanical Turk
- Type
- Gross pay from one project
Amount, exactly as the source states it
“nearly $8,000 in under three weeks”
- On one chatbot evaluation project, she “started at $22 an hour, which increased to $40 an hour,” bringing in “nearly $8,000 in under three weeks.”
- She worked “up to 16 hours a day” on that project.
- “LLM projects usually pay closer to $20 an hour… while social media or transcription ones can be anywhere from $9 to $11.”
Business Insider says it “verified copies of her pay slips” for the $8,000 project and also verified that she works across multiple platforms.
Who she is
Amanda Overcash is a single mom in Texas, in her 30s, with a full-time job in real estate. At night, after her daughter goes to bed, she opens her laptop at the kitchen table and starts her second job: training AI. She’s been doing this kind of work for more than six years.
What she does
AI companies need people to check and improve what their models produce. Overcash’s work has included:
- Reading chatbot answers and flagging anything misleading or unsafe (for example, a bot that doesn’t tell someone to see a doctor about a lump)
- Transcribing casual voice memos recorded in noisy cafés and cars
- Reviewing social media ads and answering yes/no questions about them
- Labeling images
She finds the work through several platforms, including Appen, OneForma, Prolific, Outlier, and Amazon Mechanical Turk.
How the $8,000 happened
In summer 2024, she joined an intense chatbot evaluation project. Her pay started at $22 an hour and rose to $40 an hour. She worked up to 16 hours a day and earned nearly $8,000 in under three weeks. She usually had four to six minutes per review.
That was a peak, not a normal month. She says her hours are flexible: “Some days I’ll do two hours. Other days I’ll hit eight.”
Worth knowing before you try this
- She says it’s “not easy money.” “Forty dollars an hour sounds great, but when you’re glued to your laptop all day, it doesn’t feel like easy money.”
- Getting in is hard. Platforms use long guideline and literacy tests. “Some tests took me days to complete,” she said. Some have waitlists.
- Audits can cut you off. A single failed audit can cost you a day’s work or get you removed from a project, often with little feedback.
- Burnout is real. She burned out two years before the article and cut back. Now she doesn’t work weekends.
- Not every platform has a good reputation. The article notes that Scale AI (Outlier’s owner) faces lawsuits from taskers and a Department of Labor investigation. Scale AI told BI it would defend itself.
Try it yourself: step by step
A realistic way to test AI training work around a day job, the way Amanda Overcash does.
What you'll need
- A computer, reliable internet, and headphones (for transcription tasks)
- A PayPal account (Prolific pays out to PayPal)
- Time blocks you can protect, like evenings after the kids are in bed
- A simple spreadsheet to track hours, including unpaid test time
- Patience for waitlists and qualification tests
-
Step 1: Join the Prolific waitlist
Prolific says joining the waitlist takes about 3 minutes. When you're invited, identity verification and a short practice task take about 15 minutes. You can cash out once you've earned at least $6/£6.
-
Step 2: Apply to Outlier if you have subject expertise
Outlier recruits graduates and experts to write and check AI answers. It says there are "no minimum hours" and that pay is "paid weekly." Fill in your education and skills carefully, because that decides which projects you see.
-
Step 3: Look at one or two more platforms
Overcash also uses Appen, OneForma, and Amazon Mechanical Turk. Read each site's requirements before you sign up. More platforms means more chances when one goes quiet.
-
Step 4: Block real time for qualification tests
Overcash says some tests took her days. Treat them like an exam: read the full guideline document first, take notes, and don't rush.
-
Step 5: Keep a guideline cheat sheet
Write the rules you keep forgetting in one note. Audits are strict, and a single failed audit can cost you a day's work or a project.
-
Step 6: Start with simpler tasks
Transcription or social media tasks help you learn how audits and pay work. In her experience these paid about $9 to $11 an hour, and LLM projects closer to $20.
-
Step 7: Track your true hourly rate
Log the hours you work (including unpaid tests) and what you're paid. After a month, divide pay by total hours. That number is your real rate.
-
Step 8: Set boundaries before you burn out
Decide your hours ahead of time. Overcash doesn't work weekends, even when she hasn't hit her hours.
Beginner pitfalls
- Paying a "training fee" or buying a starter kit. Real platforms pay you.
- Skimming the guidelines and then failing audits
- Counting on one platform. Projects can end without warning.
- Uploading your ID to a site you found through an ad or DM. Go to the platform's own website.
- Working 16-hour days for weeks. She did it once and calls it "not easy money."
Realistic expectations
Work can come in bursts and then dry up, and getting accepted can take weeks. Overcash's "nearly $8,000 in under three weeks" came from one intense project, working up to 16 hours a day, after more than six years of this kind of work. It wasn't a normal month.
Prices and plan details come from each tool's own pricing page or help docs, checked Oct 15, 2026. They change often, so re-check before you pay. Time estimates are our rough guesses for a beginner. Sources: Prolific for participants; Outlier.
Tools mentioned
- Appen
- OneForma
- Prolific
- Outlier owned by Scale AI, per the source
- Amazon Mechanical Turk
Plain links to each tool's homepage. We don't earn anything from these links. Affiliate disclosure.
Source and verification
This Texas mom made $8,000 in 3 weeks training AI at her kitchen table. She says it's 'not easy money.', Business Insider, Apr 25, 2025.
Verified by outlet: A reporter checked documents (like pay slips or payout records). How we verify.
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