This AI company is hiring improv actors — and willing to pay them $74 an hour

• One AI company is offering actors $74 an hour to record themselves doing improv.
• It's part of a project for "one of the leading AI companies," Handshake AI says.
• The job listing is the latest example of how AI companies are seeking out non-tech professionals.

If you're an actor, your next role could involve performing for an AI company.

Handshake AI is hiring performers, including those with improv skills, to record themselves responding to a "light prompt or scenario" with other actors, according to a job posting.

The work is part-time, remote, open to workers with at least a bachelor's degree, and pays up to $74 an hour, per Handshake's description. For actors, the work is "easy to fit alongside auditions, classes, or rehearsals," the company says.

"You'll improvise scenes, explore characters, and respond naturally in the moment, with plenty of creative freedom to shape how each interaction unfolds," the job listing reads. Embedded in the job description is a video of two people talking in an apparently improvised scene.

The listing says the project is for "one of the leading AI companies," though it doesn't mention how the work will be used.

A Handshake spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last year, the company launched an AI division after about a decade as a social network for college students and young professionals looking for career opportunities.

On Reddit, as The Verge reported, some users debated what Handshake's plans for the recordings might be. One user posted: "It's clearly just an attempt to get people to train AI models to create AI generated videos."

Another predicted that it could lead to more demand for "real, unpolished" live comedy from humans, even if the work is used to create AI that can generate comedy.

Handshake's listing is the latest example of the different professions, including some in the arts and creative roles, that AI companies are calling on.

Jobs in training AI have grown over the past few years. Many companies don't require trainers to have experience with AI or a tech background.

Some do the work as a side-hustle as students or artists, Business Insider previously reported, and the tasks can involve recounting childhood memories or even bullying AI.

Uber, known for its gig-work ride-hailing drivers and delivery people, has branched out into AI training and has headhunted trainers with graduate degrees and job experience outside tech to do it.

Many training jobs are independent contractor roles, meaning companies don't offer benefits like healthcare and retirement account contributions that they do for full-time employees.

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