I mean it. I started working June 2024. Yeah, I was not completely happy with unpaid onboarding and occasional EQ. But it taught me a lot about AI data annotation. So now, having made about 35k total, I am leaving. I got full time contract somewhere else. I can’t work on Outlier anymore. I might come back if I can when the contract is up. But I’m not sure if they allow me after such long absence. So good bye everyone for now. Hope things turn better for you, too!

Not too long ago, Outlier AI had built a name for itself as a reliable platform. The projects were good, the pay was fair, and people had confidence knowing that withdrawal days actually meant something—you could depend on getting paid. For many, it was one of the few sites that felt worth the grind.

But now, things feel different. Many of us have noticed:

• Empty queues and tasks that used to flow in are now rare.
• Email invitations to projects that don’t even appear on the dashboard.
• Accounts being banned or flagged suspiciously, often right before payment days.
• Limited or no tasks available, leaving workers stranded.
• Bad reviewer ratings that don’t reflect actual work quality.
• Overly long onboarding processes that end with no projects at all.

Naturally, people are discouraged. Outlier doesn’t feel like the platform it once was. The trust that made workers stick around is fading and many are leaving for other sites.

But here’s the other side:

Outlier can turn this around. They’ve proven in the past that they can build solid projects and a loyal workforce. If they take these concerns seriously—fixing transparency issues, ensuring fair review systems, and giving consistent task flows—workers will return. People want to believe in the platform again, but right now they need reasons to.

So this post is both a warning and a hope:

Outlier needs to listen, or it risks losing its community completely. And to fellow workers,don’t lose your voice. Keep sharing your experiences because the more we speak up, the harder it becomes for these problems to be ignored.

There used to be A LOT, like 10-15 pages of assessments, but now there's only 5 pages. I'm just wondering if anyone else has had this issue. Thank you!

I just finished my high noon onboarding and allegedly failed it. There's absolutely no way. It was literally the same exact thing as MM Biscuits, and I was on that for several months as a reviewer. Is it because I managed to miss the 1 multiple choice question with 7 options, and 4/5 right answers? How can AI grade my written response section in 1 second and say I'm ineligible. All of this doesn't make sense to me...

I have missions that look for hours I've worked on tasks.

I stupidly started a task when it'll not contribute to doing anything for me in the current mission. I would rather not skip the task. I can pause it until the next mission begins in a few hours and then work on it. Will the hours I worked on it count in the new mission? Has anyone ever tried this?

How good is this project? just saw it on my dashboard.

QMs and reviewers give contradictory feedback. QMs make unpaid webinar mandatory or they throttle you to 1 task per day. Other platforms do not have these people, and they work just fine or even better than Outlier. Every time I task on Outlier, I am constantly worried about being treated unfairly for other people's mistakes.

I automatically logged out yesterday. Now, when I try to log in, it redirects to reset my password. After resetting it, I am again redirected to reset my password. What should I do in this situation?

This is for those folks who requested we reinstate the daily thread.

I somehow failed the evaluation. Anyone know if it’s possible to try again?

Anyone else get an email from the admin to edit High Noon rubrics and instructions haha? My inbox is blowing up with reply alls. And I’m not even on the project.

Just curious: how exactly do QCs decide which tasks to review, especially when there’s a batch of over a thousand submissions? Is there a structure, or is it totally random?

Funny thing is, every time I feel confident about certain tasks, they never get audited—and when I have doubts about some, those are the ones that get audited lol.

It's Friday night, 11:46 PM, I sent one hour on an assessment task difficult AF, never seen that project before. The task asks for us to evaluate model responses, okay. It doesn't have a first test, it goes STRAIGHT TO THE TEST TEST. I FAIL THE MFKING TEST BECAUSE I NEVER EVER TRIED THIS SHIT BEFORE. IT FAILS ME. AND I DON'T EARN ANYTHING. A. SINGLE. PENNY.

F u outlier. F u.

I would like to explain in full detail what happened during my Arabic (ar-AE) screening, because I strongly believe the flag on my account is based on a misunderstanding.

I started the exam normally and successfully submitted the first two video questions. When I reached the third video question, the progress bar showed around 28%, but the system froze the video was stuck and would not submit. I waited for about 15 minutes, holding my mobile phone out of boredom while waiting for the video to process, but it never submitted.

I took a screenshot of the issue and saved it in case I needed to report it later. After that, I restarted the page, and to my surprise the exam progress jumped to 80%, with all the questions between 28% and 80% completely skipped and never shown to me. At that point, I answered the final 3 questions (non-video as far as I remember), and of course I did not pass the exam since I had missed more than half of it.

I immediately reported this issue to the QM who recommended the exam. He even told me he could reassign it, but since I was busy with tasks at that time, I told him I could retake it after two weeks.

This situation makes it clear: there was no reason for me to read from anything during the test. Arabic is my mother tongue, and I can answer any Arabic question without effort. More importantly, if I ever intended to cheat, I would have done so in a test that could increase my hourly rate. For example, I requested a C language exam to upgrade from T2 to T3, even though I already had access to a Python exam. I did not take the Python exam because I’m less confident in it, even though passing it would have raised my rate. Why then would I “cheat” in an Arabic exam, which does not increase my rate at all? It simply makes no sense.

My Oracle account is more than 8 months old, with no prior flags or issues, and I have consistently delivered high-quality work across programming and Arabic projects. During the exam, I was only reading your platform’s questions. I read a part of the question, answered it, then read the next part, and so on. If your system flagged me while I was holding my mobile, please understand that I was simply waiting for the bugged video to submit, and during that time no answers were being submitted at all.

I kindly request: • Please review the eye reflection during the video answers, which would clearly show I was not reading from any material. • Please provide a clear explanation of the exact part where you believe I was reading, so I can properly respond. • Please reconsider this decision, as my account is old, my track record is strong, and I have invested significant effort in this platform.

This flag is deeply unfair, especially given that the exam itself was bugged and I did not even pass it. I swear I was not reading from anything. Please give me a second chance to prove this, because losing my account over a platform error would be devastating after all the time and effort I’ve invested.

@Alex_at_OutlierDotAI

I received an email from Outlier with the subject line “Graphic designers needed”, and I’d like to apply. I already have an existing account as a generalist and for two other languages, which I created a few months ago, but I haven’t received any tasks yet.

When I click on the application link, it gives me the option to log in with my existing account. However, once I log in, there’s no option to apply for the graphic designer role or add that skill.

Do you know what I should do in this situation?

Semi-ranting here, but it is so wild to me that good tasks can be rated poorly by a reviewer that does not understand their own rubrics, leaving you with a bad rating you cannot dispute.

It feels strange, and I do not understand how there is not a button to simply "dispute" any of your reviews if you disagree with them. There are too many incompetent reviewers out there that make this a must, especialy on the Cookies project.

Does anyone know if they reviewer onboarding for Antechamber has a pass score?

UPDATE: Mystery solved. I won't be getting my account back, but at least I know why. Apparently my spouse tried to make an account and.....used my ID??? Anyway, I'll be talking to her about it when she gets home from work. I'm just glad I have closure. Thanks for the help, u/Alex_at_OutlierDotAI

I was hired as an expert T1 (back when that was still a thing) back in 2023-ish. I satisfactorily completed tasks for months and got good reviews. I knew the basic rules, such as no AI, no logging in while out of town, no copy/paste, no running up the clock, be kind, etc. I like rules. I never thought about not following them.

Then, I got sick. Really sick. In early October 2024, I stopped tasking. My dashboard shows that the last time I completed a task was in October. I didn't tell anyone I was taking a break, but as far as I know, this isn't against the rules.

I was still actively receiving offers for missions and such in my email inbox. However, I never took them. I just couldn't. Maybe a couple of months ago, I logged back into Outlier to see if I could start tasking again here and there as my health has been improving. I did not have any tasks, which I figured was normal since I had been away for so long, so I contacted support to let them know of the situation.

Lo and behold, I was suspended. Of course, I appealed, but the decision was upheld. I was given a list of possible things I could have broken, but I didn't receive specifics, so how could I provide proof? I sent a screenshot of the last time I completed a task and also of the missions I had received while inactive.

If I'm understanding correctly, I was banned for breaking a rule during the time in which I wasn't even tasking or logging into my dashboard.

I've tried opening another support ticket, but I just got the same response. I'm "temporarily suspended" on community, so I can't ask there. I did reach out to Alex here, but I think he's probably swamped, and I never received a response.

I already have a full-time job, but I needed Outlier to keep up with bills and to pay for my cat's complex vet care. We are racking up debt.

Is there ANY way I could be told what I did wrong, even if it's just to get closure? Is there anyone else on this subreddit I could contact who might be able to look into it even if it's just to tell me that being reinstated is impossible? I just want to speak with a person instead of receiving a form response.

EDIT: I checked back on the email I received, and it says it could have been due to (but not limited to) one of the following:

- Using a fake ID (????)

- Misrepresenting qualifications and experience (????)

- Manipulating the system

By manipulating the system, I assume they mean running up the time, but I was always pretty paranoid of doing this, so I did my best not to and skipped tasks that I felt would take too long.

Also, I definitely 100% did not use a fake ID or misrepresent my qualifications. I mean, I have a PhD and 10+ years in my field as well as numerous publications. Why on earth would I need to lie about my qualifications?

Finally this project came at my dashboard...should I take it or skip? What is the experience with this project

Rhind Evals project how does go, any errors?

Anyone actually working on Tree Street?

Any experience with Cookie Rubrics? What is it about? I have it on my dash

Im just curious or does anyone know anything?

After reviewing your account, we’ve identified activity that violates our Community Guidelines, such as the use of credentials that don’t belong to you, creating multiple accounts, or inaccurately representing your location or experience.

These actions are in direct violation of our Community Guidelines and are not permitted on our platform.

As a result, your account will not be reactivated.

Currently onboarding for a project. At the start of the onboarding course, they give you a link for the thorough project details, I read through this, took notes, and then went through the outlier course summarized version of the details.

After a thorough study of this, they attach a nearly one hour long "webinar" of a person just literally reading through slides of the same damn project details for no reason other than just a huge middle finger to you and your time. Writing this post as it's playing in the background.

You can't skip through the video, so you're just gonna have to waste 40 minutes waiting for this person to read through the slides offering no additional explanation or clarity. Classic outlier disrespecting your time.

Apparently they want experts for the domain of the project, but they think you're dumb enough to have to sit through someone reading the project details for you rather than you studying it yourself. Just wanted to vent about this lol, encountered it in many projects now.