How AI Is Being Trained to Do Your Job

How AI Is Being Trained to Do Your Job

From The Journal. by The Wall Street Journal & Spotify Studios

June 4, 2026 · 22 min

About this episode

The episode discusses how AI is being trained to perform white collar jobs, focusing on the startup Mercor and its hiring practices.

There’s a new gig economy that involves training AI to do white collar jobs. And one company, Mercor, is leading the charge. The training startup hired 30,000 contractors just last year to help AI companies get their models trained up on sophisticated roles. Ryan Knutson spoke to one former Mercor contractor about the job and WSJ’s Katie Bindley lays out the tactics that have landed the startup in hot water. Further Listening: The ‘Class of AI’ Enters the Workforce AI Is Coming for Entry-Level Jobs Sign up for WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: Ryan Knutson

Guest: former Mercor contractor

Topics covered

  • AI training
  • gig economy
  • white collar jobs
  • contract work
  • startup challenges

Keywords

  • AI
  • Mercor
  • contractors
  • white collar jobs
  • training
  • gig economy
  • workforce

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Mercor

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