Xiaote Zhu

Since launching in 2023, <a href="http://outlier.ai">Outlier</a> has grown quickly and now provides tens of thousands of contributors the opportunity to earn supplemental income as they help to shape the future of groundbreaking AI technology.
Today, we&rsquo;re pleased to announce the results of Outlier&rsquo;s Q3 Net Promoter Score (NPS), a common measure of user loyalty and satisfaction, which provides a score between -100 and 100. We saw a significant increase of 14 points this quarter, bringing our score to 44. To put this into perspective, the average NPS score in <a href="https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/net-promoter-score-benchmarks-customer-loyalty/">SurveyMonkey&rsquo;s dataset</a> of 150,000 companies is 32, placing our score of 44 well above this benchmark.
This progress demonstrates the improvements we&rsquo;ve made to Outlier, which we have continued to roll out in Q4. These improvements are driven by feedback from the experts who work on our platform. These include:
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Fast, reliable issue support: We offer quick resolution to issues raised through our support channels. We&rsquo;ve created a dedicated pay escalation team, and over the past 12 weeks on Outlier, 96% of pay-related tickets were resolved within 10 days. We are also in the process of doubling the size of our support team, which is available 24/7, and contributors can submit tickets or use an anonymous hotline to report issues. Additionally, we are rolling out a way to directly chat with support later this month.&nbsp;
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Increased pay transparency and reliability: We&rsquo;ve introduced a more granular and real-time view of earnings to ensure contributors can easily track their payouts and link them back to the work they performed.
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Streamlined project onboarding: &nbsp;We have reduced the average onboarding time to a first project from multiple weeks to just a few days.&nbsp;
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Simplified and user-friendly tasking experience: The chat companion autofeedback tool, an automated assistant, helps contributors submit high quality data in real time.
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Increased project availability and choice: &nbsp;We are piloting a marketplace feature that makes it easier for contributors to find backup projects and have choices between which projects they work on.&nbsp;
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Outlier&rsquo;s platform enables diverse specialists &mdash; like mathematicians, linguists, coders, and more &mdash; to apply and monetize their expertise. In the past year alone, tens of thousands of contributors from around the world have earned hundreds of millions of dollars on Outlier.&nbsp;
As we celebrate this progress, we want to be clear that our work is far from over. Our goal is to build a platform that evolves with the needs of our contributors. We remain committed to listening, acting on feedback, and making real changes to improve the experience of contributors on Outlier.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Methodology: The survey was conducted through the platform Sprig to evaluate contributor satisfaction. NPS surveys take a straightforward approach to measuring sentiment, asking, &ldquo;On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to recommend this company to a friend or colleague?&rdquo; Respondents who select a 9 or 10 are considered promoters &mdash; enthusiastic supporters of the platform, and anyone who provides a 6 or below are classified as detractors.
NPS scores are calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters. The survey had a robust sample size, with thousands of responses. It was randomly distributed each month to contributors who logged into the platform, providing the most accurate readout on the sentiment of our contributor pool at that moment in time.

Today, we’re happy to announce Outlier’s Q3 NPS score has climbed to 44.

Improving the World’s Leading AI Data Contributor Platform

Through Outlier, a part of the Scale family of products and services, we connect experts from across domains and around the world with opportunities to train and evaluate generative AI. This global effort is unprecedented in two ways:&nbsp;
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First, the work of these experts is leading to new advancements in cutting-edge generative AI models, a technology that will improve how we work and make life more efficient.&nbsp;
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Second, as AI advances, it is creating an entirely new field of flexible work opportunities that previously did not exist. Generative AI models require input from every major domain of human intelligence, ranging from math, chemistry, law, history to coding, languages, and dozens of other fields. For experts in any one of these fields, Outlier provides an opportunity for supplemental income using their knowledge to help shape the future of AI.&nbsp;
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As we enter the holiday season here in the United States, we want to take the opportunity to thank the contributors who have joined us on this journey. Outlier&rsquo;s success is made possible by the contributors who choose to work on the platform, and we are grateful to support their work in this emerging field.&nbsp;
The experts who work on Outlier are an inspiring group of people with diverse skills and life experiences. For example, when we recently analyzed contributors in the US, we learned 79% have a bachelor's degree, more than triple the rate of the U.S. adult population. Of those, 22% have a master&rsquo;s degree and 8% have a PhD. Contributors include STEM students, doctoral researchers, linguists, and more from every corner of the globe, all united by an interest in improving generative AI.
Everyday, as we learn more about the contributors on Outlier, we are humbled by the positive stories about how working on AI is making an impact on contributors&rsquo; daily lives. Through ongoing surveys and interviews of contributors, we have found three key themes in what attracts people to the work opportunities found on Outlier: flexible economic opportunity, intellectually engaging work, and an interest in improving AI.&nbsp;
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Flexible Economic Opportunity. It&rsquo;s no surprise one of the top reasons people love working on Outlier is the flexibility it affords and the access to competitive pay. There are few opportunities for experts to apply and monetize their specific talents outside of full-time work, but platforms like Outlier make that possible. For example, Valeria, an actor and a teacher in Peru described how having control over her calendar enables her to earn money while continuing to work as an artist. As she said, &ldquo;My favorite part is the freedom. You can adjust it to any type of career that you have on the side. I&rsquo;m an artist and my schedule can change from week to week. If you have time, you can just make money on the side and it's very helpful.&rdquo;
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Intellectually Engaging Work. Another top reason contributors are drawn to working on advancing GenAI is the intellectual challenge. Creating high-quality data involves testing and evaluating a model&rsquo;s performance, which requires humans with deep expertise in a subject to know whether or not a model&rsquo;s answers are accurate. For example, we recently met a math specialist who used to compete in the International Math Olympiad who described Outlier as an outlet for once again getting to solve advanced math problems. Another contributor, Toni, lives in Germany and has a PhD in computer science and works full-time as a software engineer and works on Outlier in their free time. On Outlier, Toni specializes in software coding and enjoys the chance to continue learning more about their field of expertise. As Toni put it, working as a contributor offers &ldquo;good experience [to] understand how LLM&rsquo;s work.&rdquo;
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Interest in Improving AI. We also found that many contributors enjoy playing a role in improving the performance of AI models. AI is reshaping the way our world works, and many express interest and excitement in being a part of that seismic shift.&nbsp;
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To tap into this interest, Outlier contributors have the option to participate in expert forums, sharing information with one another about what they are learning and understanding how models are behaving. Through their work on Outlier, contributors get to test the frontier of the world&rsquo;s most advanced AI models and see those models improve over time as a result of their work. Nath&aacute;lia lives in Brazil and works as an English teacher. On Outlier, she specializes as a linguist and enjoys knowing that her work is improving the ability of AI models to better represent her native language. &ldquo;I understand [AI&rsquo;s] limits much better than I did before. I see that the work we're doing is actually improving the quality of the AI.&rdquo;
These are just a few of the hundreds of thousands of faces of contributors finding work on Outlier. Thank you to everyone who has taken part in this community so far. We look forward to creating new opportunities on the platform and celebrating the stories of the contributors who have joined us along the way.

Through Outlier we connect experts from across domains with opportunities to train and evaluate generative AI.

Meet the Data Contributors Powering the AI Revolution

Human experts have always been central to AI development, a principle we&rsquo;ve embraced at Scale since our founding. In 2023, the explosive growth of Generative AI sparked an incredible demand for high-quality data to power large language models, requiring expertise across all domains of human knowledge. This spurred the creation of <a href="http://outlier.ai">Outlier</a>, a part of the Scale family of products and services dedicated to advancing GenAI through specialized human expertise
On Outlier, expert contributors provide the specialized knowledge needed to create and curate the high-quality data essential for producing cutting-edge AI - driving advancements for leading model builders and tech companies. In addition to driving AI advancement, Outlier also provides contributors a flexible, low-commitment option for earning additional income. In the past year alone, tens of thousands of contributors from around the world have earned hundreds of millions of dollars on Outlier. We frequently hear from contributors that this flexible income helps them save for the things they want in life, like a new mountain bike, a wedding ring or even a new home.&nbsp;&nbsp;
With this rapid growth, Outlier has arrived at an exciting moment. Starting today, I am proud to announce my new role as the first General Manager of Outlier.&nbsp;
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As our former Head of Generative AI Operations, there is no one better suited than Xiaote to lead Outlier into its next chapter. Over the past year, we&rsquo;ve been incredibly fortunate to witness tremendous growth for Outlier &ndash; not only from customers seeking high-quality data but also from experts worldwide eager to contribute to AI&rsquo;s rapid advancements. Xiaote&rsquo;s leadership will be key to shaping the future of this platform and continuing to push the boundaries of what&rsquo;s possible in AI.
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&ndash; Alexandr Wang, CEO and Cofounder
Throughout my career, from working in consumer finance to restaurant technology to security systems, I&rsquo;ve been driven by the idea of building solutions that make everyday life better. Each industry taught me something new, but the thread has always been impact.
In this new position, and to ensure that Outlier remains a valuable platform for contributors, I see a massive opportunity to maximize impact. This means building for the next stage of growth, actively addressing feedback, and always keeping an eye on the future. To that end, we&rsquo;ve identified three distinct pillars of focus that will benefit both our customers and contributors:&nbsp;
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Best-In-Class Platform. To drive rapid AI advancements, we are focused on ensuring a best-in-class contributor experience. This includes smooth project onboarding with a simplified process and clear communication around project requirements. We&rsquo;re also working to enhance the experience with a more intuitive interface, improved project visibility, and streamlined in-product communication to ensure a seamless, user-friendly workflow.&nbsp;
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Reliability and Transparency. We&rsquo;re focused on improving support and pay transparency for contributors. This includes faster resolution of issues, like account management questions, and enhanced pay transparency through a detailed earnings tab and visible pay rates during tasks. To reduce payment delays, we&rsquo;ve added helpful tooltips, and our revamped support system now resolves 90% of pay-related inquiries within three days, ensuring a smoother, more reliable experience.
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More Opportunity and Flexibility. As AI evolves, it opens up new opportunities for flexible work &ndash; opportunities that didn&rsquo;t exist just a few years ago. That includes opportunities for people with specialized skills to train AI models, without displacing existing jobs. To support this, we&rsquo;re focused on increasing project availability and giving contributors more options, including backup projects and offering greater choice between tasks. We&rsquo;re also testing <a href="https://scale.com/expertmatch">Expert Match</a>, a feature that will enable our customers to search, screen, and invite contributors to their projects, while also providing contributors more work opportunities and the flexibility to accept or decline projects.&nbsp;
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Advancing AI through high-quality data is one of the most important human endeavors of our time, requiring expert input that reflects the full depth of human intelligence. We are committed to driving this mission forward, ensuring that both AI and its development process benefit humanity. This is just the beginning, and I&rsquo;m excited to lead Outlier into the future alongside the contributors who make it possible.

We are excited to announce Xiaote Zhu as the first General Manager of Outlier.

Xiaote Zhu

Improving the World’s Leading AI Data Contributor Platform

Meet the Data Contributors Powering the AI Revolution

A New Era of Outlier