Handshake AI recruits improv actors for paid remote work tied to AI training

Handshake AI is advertising a paid remote opportunity for actors, improvisers, and other performers, offering up to $74 per hour for part-time work on what it describes as a collaborative improv project with “one of the leading AI companies.” The listing says participants will be matched with other performers over video, given light prompts or scenarios, and asked to improvise naturally in unscripted sessions.

Handshake says the work is flexible and fully remote

According to the official listing, the role is remote, part-time, and built around flexible hours. Handshake AI says the project is designed to fit around auditions, classes, or rehearsals, and describes the pay as averaging $74 per hour, depending on the project.

The company says performers will improvise scenes, explore characters, and respond in the moment with a high degree of creative freedom. The listing also says workers will collaborate with other performers and use prompts, personality notes, and creative constraints to shape scenes and dialogue.

The listing puts emotional range and performance skills at the center

Handshake says it is looking for people with backgrounds in improv, acting, theater, sketch, or similar performance-based work. The qualifications section also emphasizes “emotional awareness,” strong creative instincts, and the ability to stay consistent with a character’s voice and emotional logic across a scene or interaction.

That makes this different from a more typical AI data-labeling or text-review role. Based on Handshake’s own wording, the focus here is on generating natural, human-sounding interactions through performance rather than completing rigid, scripted tasks.

Handshake frames the work as part of frontier AI development

The same page says selection is limited to a small cohort chosen for its “disciplinary and research expertise,” and adds that the work is intended to test the limits of top large language models by completing tasks that positively affect the next frontier AI model. The listing does not name the company behind the project, referring only to “one of the leading AI companies.”

Handshake also says eligible F-1 students with CPT or OPT may qualify for projects on Handshake AI, although STEM OPT is not supported.