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The logo of generative AI chatbot ChatGPT, which is owned by Microsoft-backed company OpenAI.

CFOTO | Future Publishing via Getty Images

Artificial intelligence might be driving concerns over people’s job security — but a new wave of jobs are being created that focus solely on reviewing the inputs and outputs of next-generation AI models.

Since Nov. 2022, global business leaders, workers and academics alike have been gripped by fears that the emergence of generative AI will disrupt vast numbers of professional jobs.

Generative AI, which enables AI algorithms to generate humanlike, realistic text and images in response to textual prompts, is trained on vast quantities of data.

It can produce sophisticated prose and even company presentations close to the quality of academically trained individuals.

That has, understandably, generated fears that jobs may be displaced by AI.

Morgan Stanley estimates that as many as 300 million jobs could be taken over by AI, including office and administrative support jobs, legal work, and architecture and engineering, life, physical and social sciences, and financial and business operations. 

But the inputs that AI models receive, and the outputs they create, often need to be guided and reviewed by humans — and this is creating some new paid careers and side hustles.

Getting paid to review AI

Prolific, a company that helps connect AI developers with research participants, has had direct involvement in providing people with compensation for reviewing AI-generated material.

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The company pays its candidates sums of money to assess the quality of AI-generated outputs. Prolific recommends developers pay participants at least $12 an hour, while minimum pay is set at $8 an hour.

The human reviewers are guided by Prolific’s customers, which include Meta, Google, the University of Oxford and University College London. They help reviewers through the process, learning about the potentially inaccurate or otherwise harmful material they may come across.

They must provide consent to engage in the research.

One research participant CNBC spoke to said he has used Prolific on a number of occasions to give his verdict on the quality of AI models.

The research participant, who preferred to remain anonymous due to privacy concerns, said that he often had to step in to provide feedback on where the AI model went wrong and needed correcting or amending to ensure it didn’t produce unsavory responses.

He came across a number of instances where certain AI models were producing things that were problematic — on one occasion, the research participant would even be confronted with an AI model trying to convince him to buy drugs.

He was shocked when the AI approached him with this comment — though the purpose of the study was to test the boundaries of this particular AI and provide it with feedback to ensure that it doesn’t cause harm in future.

The new ‘AI workers’

Phelim Bradley, CEO of Prolific, said that there are plenty of new kinds of “AI workers” who are playing a key role in informing the data that goes into AI models like ChatGPT — and what comes out.

As governments assess how to regulate AI, Bradley said that it’s “important that enough focus is given to topics including the fair and ethical treatment of AI workers such as data annotators, the sourcing and transparency of data used to build AI models, as well as the dangers of bias creeping into these systems due to the way in which they are being trained.”

“If we can get the approach right in these areas, it will go a long way to ensuring the best and most ethical foundations for the AI-enabled applications of the future.”

In July, Prolific raised $32 million in funding from investors including Partech and Oxford Science Enterprises.

The likes of Google, Microsoft and Meta have been battling to dominate in generative AI, an emerging field of AI that has involved commercial interest primarily thanks to its frequently floated productivity gains.

However, this has opened a can of worms for regulators and AI ethicists, who are concerned there is a lack of transparency surrounding how these models reach decisions on the content they produce, and that more needs to be done to ensure that AI is serving human interests — not the other way around.

Hume, a company that uses AI to read human emotions from verbal, facial and vocal expressions, uses Prolific to test the quality of its AI models. The company recruits people via Prolific to participate in surveys to tell it whether an AI-generated response was a good response or a bad response.

“Increasingly, the emphasis of researchers in these large companies and labs is shifting towards alignment with human preferences and safety,” Alan Cowen, Hume’s co-founder and CEO, told CNBC.

“There’s more of an emphasize on being able to monitor things in these applications. I think we’re just seeing the very beginning of this technology being released,” he added. 

“It makes sense to expect that some of the things that have long been pursued in AI — having personalised tutors and digital assistants; models that can read legal documents and revise them these, are actually coming to fruition.”

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Another role placing humans at the core of AI development is prompt engineers. These are workers who figure out what text-based prompts work best to insert into the generative AI model to achieve the most optimal responses.

According to LinkedIn data released last week, there’s been a rush specifically toward jobs mentioning AI.

Job postings on LinkedIn that mention either AI or generative AI more than doubled globally between July 2021 and July 2023, according to the jobs and networking platform.

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Global movement to protect kids online fuels a wave of AI safety tech

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Global movement to protect kids online fuels a wave of AI safety tech

Spotify, Reddit and X have all implemented age assurance systems to prevent children from being exposed to inappropriate content.

STR | Nurphoto via Getty Images

The global online safety movement has paved the way for a number of artificial intelligence-powered products designed to keep kids away from potentially harmful things on the internet.

In the U.K., a new piece of legislation called the Online Safety Act imposes a duty of care on tech companies to protect children from age-inappropriate material, hate speech, bullying, fraud, and child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Companies can face fines as high as 10% of their global annual revenue for breaches.

Further afield, landmark regulations aimed at keeping kids safer online are swiftly making their way through the U.S. Congress. One bill, known as the Kids Online Safety Act, would make social media platforms liable for preventing their products from harming children — similar to the Online Safety Act in the U.K.

This push from regulators is increasingly causing something of a rethink at several major tech players. Pornhub and other online pornography giants are blocking all users from accessing their sites unless they go through an age verification system.

Porn sites haven’t been alone in taking action to verify users ages, though. Spotify, Reddit and X have all implemented age assurance systems to prevent children from being exposed to sexually explicit or inappropriate materials.

Such regulatory measures have been met with criticisms from the tech industry — not least due to concerns that they may infringe internet users’ privacy.

Digital ID tech flourishing

At the heart of all these age verification measures is one company: Yoti.

Yoti produces technology that captures selfies and uses artificial intelligence to verify someone’s age based on their facial features. The firm says its AI algorithm, which has been trained on millions of faces, can estimate the age of 13 to 24-year-olds within two years of accuracy.

The firm has previously partnered with the U.K.’s Post Office and is hoping to capitalize on the broader push for government-issued digital ID cards in the U.K. Yoti is not alone in the identity verification software space — other players include Entrust, Persona and iProov. However, the company has been the most prominent provider of age assurance services under the new U.K. regime.

“There is a race on for child safety technology and service providers to earn trust and confidence,” Pete Kenyon, a partner at law firm Cripps, told CNBC. “The new requirements have undoubtedly created a new marketplace and providers are scrambling to make their mark.”

Yet the rise of digital identification methods has also led to concerns over privacy infringements and possible data breaches.

“Substantial privacy issues arise with this technology being used,” said Kenyon. “Trust is key and will only be earned by the use of stringent and effective technical and governance procedures adopted in order to keep personal data safe.”

Read more CNBC tech news

Rani Govender, policy manager for child safety online at British child protection charity NSPCC, said that the technology “already exists” to authenticate users without compromising their privacy.

“Tech companies must make deliberate, ethical choices by choosing solutions that protect children from harm without compromising the privacy of users,” she told CNBC. “The best technology doesn’t just tick boxes; it builds trust.”

Child-safe smartphones

The wave of new tech emerging to prevent children from being exposed to online harms isn’t just limited to software.

Earlier this month, Finnish phone maker HMD Global launched a new smartphone called the Fusion X1, which uses AI to stop kids from filming or sharing nude content or viewing sexually explicit images from the camera, screen and across all apps.

The phone uses technology developed by SafeToNet, a British cybersecurity firm focused on child safety.

Finnish phone maker HMD Global’s new smartphone uses AI to prevent children from being exposed nude or sexually explicit images.

HMD Global

“We believe more needs to be done in this space,” James Robinson, vice president of family vertical at HMD, told CNBC. He stressed that HMD came up with the concept for children’s devices prior to the Online Safety Act entering into force, but noted it was “great to see the government taking greater steps.”

The release of HMD’s child-friendly phone follows heightened momentum in the “smartphone-free” movement, which encourages parents to avoid letting their children own a smartphone.

Going forward, the NSPCC’s Govender says that child safety will become a significant priority for digital behemoths such as Google and Meta.

The tech giants have for years been accused of worsening mental health in children and teens due to the rise of online bullying and social media addiction. They in return argue they’ve taken steps to address these issues through increased parental controls and privacy features.

“For years, tech giants have stood by while harmful and illegal content spread across their platforms, leaving young people exposed and vulnerable,” she told CNBC. “That era of neglect must end.”

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‘AI may eat software,’ but several tech names just wrapped a huge week

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'AI may eat software,' but several tech names just wrapped a huge week

A banner for Snowflake Inc. is displayed at the New York Stock Exchange to celebrate the company’s initial public offering on Sept. 16, 2020.

Brendan McDermid | Reuters

MongoDB’s stock just closed out its best week on record, leading a rally in enterprise technology companies that are seeing tailwinds from the artificial intelligence boom.

In addition to MongoDB’s 44% rally, Pure Storage soared 33%, its second-sharpest gain ever, while Snowflake jumped 21%. Autodesk rose 8.4%.

Since generative AI started taking off in late 2022 following the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the big winners have been Nvidia, for its graphics processing units, as well as the cloud vendors like Microsoft, Google and Oracle, and companies packaging and selling GPUs, such as Dell and Super Micro Computer.

For many cloud software vendors and other enterprise tech companies, Wall Street has been waiting to see if AI will be a boon to their business, or if it might displace it.

Quarterly results this week and commentary from company executives may have eased some of those concerns, showing that the financial benefits of AI are making their way downstream.

MongoDB CEO Dev Ittycheria told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday that enterprise rollouts of AI services are happening, but slowly.

“You start to see deployments of agents to automate back office, maybe automate sales and marketing, but it’s still not yet kind of full force in the enterprise,” Ittycheria said. “People want to see some wins before they deploy more investment.”

Revenue at MongoDB, which sells cloud database services, rose 24% from a year earlier to $591 million, sailing past the $556 million average analyst estimate, according to LSEG. Earnings also exceeded expectations, as did the company’s full-year forecast for profit and revenue.

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MongoDB said in its earnings report that it’s added more than 5,000 customers year-to-date, “the highest ever in the first half of the year.”

“We think that’s a good sign of future growth because a lot of these companies are AI native companies who are coming to MongoDB to run their business,” Ittycheria said.

Pure Storage enjoyed a record pop on Thursday, when the stock jumped 32% to an all-time high.

The data storage management vendor reported quarterly results that topped estimates and lifted its guidance for the year. But what’s exciting investors the most is early returns from Pure’s recent contract with Meta. Pure will help the social media company manage its massive storage needs efficiently with the demands of AI.

Pure said it started recognizing revenue from its Meta deployments in the second quarter, and finance chief Tarek Robbiati said on the earnings call that the company is seeing “increased interest from other hyperscalers” looking to replace their traditional storage with Pure’s technology.

‘Banger of a report’

Reports from MongoDB and Pure landed the same week that Nvidia announced quarterly earnings, and said revenue soared 56% from a year earlier, marking a ninth-straight quarter of growth in excess of 50%.

Nvidia has emerged as the world’s most-valuable company by selling advanced AI processors to all of the infrastructure providers and model developers.

While growth at Nvidia has slowed from its triple-digit rate in 2023 and 2024, it’s still expanding at a much faster pace than its megacap peers, indicating that there’s no end in sight when it comes to the expansive AI buildouts.

“It was a banger of a report,” said Brad Gerstner CEO of Altimeter Capital, in an interview with CNBC’s “Halftime Report” on Thursday. “This company is accelerating at scale.”

Read more CNBC tech news

Data analytics vendor Snowflake talked up its Snowflake AI data cloud in its quarterly earnings report on Wednesday.

Snowflake shares popped 20% following better-than-expected earnings and revenue. The company also boosted its guidance for the year for product revenue, and said it has more than 6,100 customers using Snowflake AI, up from 5,200 during the prior quarter.

“Our progress with AI has been remarkable,” Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy said on the earnings call. “Today, AI is a core reason why customers are choosing Snowflake, influencing nearly 50% of new logos won in Q2.”

Autodesk, founded in 1982, has been around much longer than MongoDB, Pure Storage or Snowflake. The company is known for its AutoCAD software used in architecture and construction.

The company has underperformed the broader tech sector of late, and last year activist investor Starboard Value jumped into the stock to push for improvements in operations and financial performance, including cost cuts. In February, Autodesk slashed 9% of its workforce, and two months later the company settled with Starboard, adding two newcomers to its board.

The stock is still trailing the Nasdaq for the year, but climbed 9.1% on Friday after Autodesk reported results that exceeded Wall Street estimates and increased its full-year revenue guidance.

Last year, Autodesk introduced Project Bernini to develop new AI models and create what it calls “AI‑driven CAD engines.”

On Thursday’s earnings call, CEO Andrew Anagnost was asked what he’s most excited about across his company’s product portfolio when it comes to AI.

Anagnost touted the ability of Autodesk to help customers simplify workflow across products and promoted the Autodesk Assistant as a way to enhance productivity through simple prompts.

He also addressed the elephant in the room: The existential threat that AI presents.

“AI may eat software,” he said, “but it’s not gonna eat Autodesk.”

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Meta changes teen AI chatbot responses as Senate begins probe into ‘romantic’ conversations

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Meta changes teen AI chatbot responses as Senate begins probe into 'romantic' conversations

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg departs after attending a Federal Trade Commission trial that could force the company to unwind its acquisitions of messaging platform WhatsApp and image-sharing app Instagram, at U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 15, 2025.

Nathan Howard | Reuters

Meta on Friday said it is making temporary changes to its artificial intelligence chatbot policies related to teenagers as lawmakers voice concerns about safety and inappropriate conversations.

The social media giant is now training its AI chatbots so that they do not generate responses to teenagers about subjects like self-harm, suicide, disordered eating and avoid potentially inappropriate romantic conversations, a Meta spokesperson confirmed.

The company said AI chatbots will instead point teenagers to expert resources when appropriate.

“As our community grows and technology evolves, we’re continually learning about how young people may interact with these tools and strengthening our protections accordingly,” the company said in a statement.

Additionally, teenage users of Meta apps like Facebook and Instagram will only be able to access certain AI chatbots intended for educational and skill-development purposes.

The company said it’s unclear how long these temporary modifications will last, but they will begin rolling out over the next few weeks across the company’s apps in English-speaking countries. The “interim changes” are part of the company’s longer-term measures over teen safety.

TechCrunch was first to report the change.

Last week, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said that he was launching an investigation into Meta following a Reuters report about the company permitting its AI chatbots to engage in “romantic” and “sensual” conversations with teens and children.

Read more CNBC tech news

The Reuters report described an internal Meta document that detailed permissible AI chatbot behaviors that staff and contract workers should take into account when developing and training the software.  

In one example, the document cited by Reuters said that a chatbot would be allowed to have a romantic conversation with an eight-year-old and could tell the minor that “every inch of you is a masterpiece – a treasure I cherish deeply.”

A Meta spokesperson told Reuters at the time that “The examples and notes in question were and are erroneous and inconsistent with our policies, and have been removed.”

Most recently, the nonprofit advocacy group Common Sense Media released a risk assessment of Meta AI on Thursday and said that it should not be used by anyone under the age of 18, because the “system actively participates in planning dangerous activities, while dismissing legitimate requests for support,” the nonprofit said in a statement.

“This is not a system that needs improvement. It’s a system that needs to be completely rebuilt with safety as the number-one priority, not an afterthought,” said Common Sense Media CEO James Steyer in a statement. “No teen should use Meta AI until its fundamental safety failures are addressed.”

A separate Reuters report published on Friday found “dozens” of flirty AI chatbots based on celebrities like Taylor Swift, Scarlett Johansson, Anne Hathaway and Selena Gomez on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

The report said that when prompted, the AI chatbots would generate “photorealistic images of their namesakes posing in bathtubs or dressed in lingerie with their legs spread.”

A Meta spokesperson told CNBC in a statement that “the AI-generated imagery of public figures in compromising poses violates our rules.”

“Like others, we permit the generation of images containing public figures, but our policies are intended to prohibit nude, intimate or sexually suggestive imagery,” the Meta spokesperson said. “Meta’s AI Studio rules prohibit the direct impersonation of public figures.”

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