English Content Writer & AI Trainer

Mindrift; Remote; ZAR 200 000 - 300 000; Part time

Job summary

A leading technology project firm in Johannesburg is looking for contributors for a project-based role in Conversational AI Testing. You will engage in multi-turn conversations with AI, stress-testing models and documenting observations. Ideal candidates will possess strong English skills and experience in Narrative Design or similar fields. This part-time opportunity is flexible, with payment rates up to $18 per hour based on expertise and project specifics.

Benefits

Flexible working hours

Training and mentorship provided

Incentive payments for certain projects

Qualifications

• Experience in Conversational AI Testing, Narrative Design, or Adversarial Model Testing.
• C2-level English proficiency (CPE, TOEFL 114+, IELTS 8.0 or above).

Responsibilities

• Engage in multi-turn conversations with LLMs.
• Stress-test models for instruction-following and emotional intelligence.
• Document observations clearly and consistently.

Skills

Conversational AI Testing

Narrative Design

Creative Writing

English proficiency (C2)

Education

Undergraduate or postgraduate qualification in an Arts-based subject

Job description

Please submit your resume in English and indicate your level of English proficiency.

Mindrift connects specialists with project-based AI opportunities for leading tech companies, focused on testing, evaluating, and improving AI systems. Participation is project-based, not permanent employment.

What This Opportunity Involves

This project requires you to put yourself in the position of a range of different user personas and engage in realistic multi-turn conversations with LLMs, working towards a clearly defined goal. You will need to:

• use a range of tones and registers
• stress-test the models\' ability to respond adequately based on several abstract dimensions (e.g. instruction-following, emotional intelligence, consistency under changing constraints)
• react and adapt to model output while maintaining tight focus on each individual task\'s requirements

Think of yourself as a controlled adversary, crafting plausible human dialogue that exposes subtle model weaknesses while maintaining narrative coherence.

For this, you will need to:

• Think like a storyteller and a tester
• Understand how humans actually speak, hesitate, contradict themselves, and escalate emotionally
• Be able to deliberately engineer conversational pressure without breaking realism
• Be methodical enough to document observations clearly and consistently
• Be able to pinpoint failure modes and LLM patterns

What We Look For

This opportunity is a good fit if you are seeking open, part-time, non-permanent projects. Ideally, contributors will have:

• an under- or postgraduate qualification in an Arts-based subject (English, Creative Writing, Journalism, MFL, Psychology, Cognitive Science), related field, or work experience at an equivalent level; or 1+ years\' experience in Conversational AI Testing, Narrative Design, or Adversarial Model Testing
• C2-level English (CPE, TOEFL 114+, IELTS 8.0 or above)

Nice to have

• Conversational UX / dialogue design experience
• An understanding of prompt engineering or LLM evaluation
• Experience with QA testing for complex systems
• A background in narrative design, interactive fiction, or screenwriting
• A qualification in, or professional experience with, behavioural research, psychology, or linguistics
• Demonstrated familiarity with LLM behaviour, failure modes, and evaluation concepts
• Experience working with structured guidelines, rubrics, or annotation frameworks

You will receive training in our guidelines and in how to create structured, focused conversations that meet the project\'s goals. You will also be assigned a mentor who will guide you through your first conversations and provide clear, actionable feedback to support your improvement.

How It Works

Apply → Pass qualification(s) → Join a project → Complete tasks → Get paid

Project time expectations

For this project, tasks are estimated to require around 10-20 hours per week during active phases, based on project requirements. This is an estimate, not a guaranteed workload, and applies only while the project is active.

Payment

• Paid contributions, with rates up to $18/hour*
• Fixed project rate or individual rates, depending on the project
• Some projects include incentive payments
• Note: Rates vary based on expertise, skills assessment, location, project needs, and other factors. Higher rates may be offered to highly specialized experts. Lower rates may apply during onboarding or non-core project phases. Payment details are shared per project