Question (rephrased) from social media:
I work in AI training and the work can be unreliable. How can I upskill and/or cross-train to advance my career if I don't want to learn to code?
Answer:
Your question is such a good one! Since I work in AI training too, and have had to pivot careers multiple times, it's one I've been pondering. I have some resources and ideas that have been helpful to me and hopefully they will be for you too.
Step 1: You are here.
What are you already good at? What 3 things are you best at? Figuring that out will help you repurpose your current work into new job roles. (Note: No matter what your job is, you should probably be doing this.)
If you don't know what you're good at, you can start with something like a Clifton Strengths Assessment. There are many similar assessments, but I've been at 3 different companies that used Clifton so that's the one I'm most familiar with.
Clifton Skills Assessment: https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/252137/home.aspx
Step 2: What are you already doing?
How does the work you're doing right now fit into the larger ecosystem of your industry?
For people working in AI training, we need to learn where our human work fits in the AI ecosystem. There's a great class on LinkedIn by Keith McCormick about being the "Human-in-the-Loop" and it helped me understand and quantify my AI training work.
https://www.linkedin.com/learning/executive-guide-to-human-in-the-loop-machine-learning-and-data-annotation/meet-the-human-in-the-loop
Step 3: Quantify
Learn how to talk about the work you do by paying attention to the pitches used by companies in the industry. If you want to read the context of our work - how they represent our work to their clients - check out their page: https://www.cloudfactory.com/
Examine the tasks you do and how they fit into the selling points these companies list.
Step 4: Look around and ask around.
I reached out to people in the industry with other companies and in related fields. Once I knew where I was "in the loop," I looked for people doing what I might like to do. . I asked about upskilling, about cross-training, about pivoting with my current skill set. The questions depended on who I was talking to. This isn't easy and not everyone is receptive. Keep it professional. Be respectful of their time.
Step 5: Prepare to pivot
(Disclaimer: These are results I pursued. There are many, many more options. This is only to give an idea of the process to get you started.)
This is where the NYT article "A.I. Might Take Your Job. Here Are 22 New Ones It Could Give You" comes in handy. Here's a gift article link that should work with no paywall.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/17/magazine/ai-new-jobs.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Now that you know what you're good at, what you're doing already and what might be ahead in the AI industry, start brainstorming potential paths.
Branding/Marketing Path:
Branding with regards to a company's "personality" is already becoming challenging. AI tools can dilute a brand's unique voice if not implemented well. Here is an interesting read about that. It's a pitch, but it's still a good read for understanding companies' pain points.
https://llyc.global/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/La-voz-de-las-marcas-ENG.pdf
Here is a general learning structure to see if you want to pursue more learning:
https://academy.hubspot.com/courses/AI-for-Marketers
Data Analytics path:
If you don't want to code, or code very much, you can take a look at low-code/no-code platforms. The one recommended to me in particular was KNIME:
https://www.knime.com/
There's a professional learning path here:
https://www.linkedin.com/learning/paths/data-science-professional-certificate-by-knime
AI Governance/Compliance path:
There is a ton out there on compliance and governance. Pursuing it might depend on the education you already have. It also depends on how much you're willing to invest in money and time to learn.
Coursera is one place to get an overview - https://www.coursera.org/learn/ai-security
Editing/Writing path:
I don't know what workflows or projects you're working on, but mine are in liberal arts and editing. I've been an editor before, but I needed to refresh my training. My projects already required refreshing my editing skills, so I decided to re-certify with ACE/Poynter Institute.
https://www.poynter.org/poynter-training/poynter-aces-certificates-in-editing/
Again this list is limited to what I've been researching and learning. These may not be the best resources for each specific path, but it should get you started in researching more. I hope this will help get your brainstorming started. Good luck!
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