What Project Odin is
Project Odin is a Mercor research project for an AI lab. Instead of writing short answers, you do real tasks on your own computer, record your screen, and explain your decisions out loud. The recordings teach AI agents how skilled people actually use software to get work done, so they are judged closely.
The main role is called Odin Writer. Writers plan a task from their own field, get it approved, record it from start to finish and write up the result. More senior contributors review recordings or help design tasks.
Odin is not open as a public listing right now. Mercor fills it from people already in its network and from its Mac based listings, which use the same kind of work: real workflows on your own Mac to benchmark AI models. Those listings are open below.
What Odin pays
Contributors and posts about the project report about $40 to $75 an hour for Odin Writers, with senior roles quoted at $150 an hour or more. Some writers report a flat $40 an hour, and one guide mentions a $100 bonus for finishing onboarding. None of these figures is published by Mercor, so the rate in your own contract is the one that counts.
Pay may depend on approved recording time. Setup, task planning and revisions are not always paid, so check how your contract treats them before you start. Mercor pays weekly through Stripe or Wise. The work is independent contractor work, not a salaried job.
Who can apply
- You need a Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later) with at least 8 GB of memory and about 35 GB of free space. Windows laptops, iPads and most Intel Macs do not qualify.
- You need a fast, stable upload speed, because recordings are large.
- You need clear spoken and written English, since you narrate each task and describe your reasoning.
- You need real experience in the field you record. Mercor's current Mac listings ask for 2 to 3 years of professional experience or current postgraduate study.
How onboarding works
- Accept the offer and read the contract, including pay, unpaid time, revisions and how the project can end.
- Pass the background check. Contributors report it can clear within an hour.
- Install only the approved tools from the project dashboard. Writers report a screen recorder called TaskRecorder, the Insightful time tracker and Okta Verify for signing in to Mercor Studio.
- Set up a separate user account on your Mac so personal details never appear on screen.
- Propose a task from your own work, with a clear goal and a result someone can check. Start recording only when its status says the idea is approved.
Expect a long technical manual and a few unpaid hours of setup. Writers say the Slack instructions can be confusing at first, so ask the project team in writing when something is unclear.
How to avoid rejected recordings
- Finish the whole task on camera, including the final result. Missing steps are the most common rejection.
- Tile your windows cleanly, use only the approved apps and close notifications before you start.
- Explain why you make each decision, not every click. End with a short review of the finished work.
- Never show passwords, codes, private messages or client files. Use made up or permitted data.
- Play back every recording before you upload it. Check the audio, the screen captured and the file format.
- Follow small rules exactly. One writer's first submission was rejected because the desktop clock did not show seconds.
How to get into Odin
Apply to one of Mercor's open Mac listings below that matches your field, or to the Mac generalist role through the button above. Do the AI interview and the paid assessment carefully, and keep your Mercor profile and CV up to date, since Mercor invites people from its network to projects like Odin. A CV that names your software and the real workflows you run gets matched faster. You can tailor your CV to a listing in a few minutes.
