Bilingual Japanese Generalist Expert: AI Safety

What you'll do

Japanese leaves a lot unsaid. Requests can be softened through keigo, left implicit, or wrapped in hypotheticals, and the same idea can be written in kanji, hiragana, katakana or romaji. Each of those is a way for a sensitive request to look harmless to a model trained mostly on English. Native speakers are hired here to find and document those gaps.

The ad lists three tasks:

• Writing expert-level prompts in Japanese across a range of sensitive subject areas
• Applying structured guidelines to classify prompts and conversations
• Flagging adversarial phrasings and escalation patterns, and recording the reasoning behind each judgment

You will be writing the requests a model ought to decline or handle carefully, and spotting conversations that move gradually towards something harmful. The sensitive topics are not specified in the ad, so expect some uncomfortable material.

Mercor trains you on the workflow; no AI background is needed.

Who fits

• Native or near-native Japanese and business-level written English
• A bachelor's degree, completed or in progress
• Strong written reasoning and attention to detail
• Sound judgment with sensitive and dual-use information

A plus: experience reviewing, grading or red-teaming written or technical content, or a background in trust and safety, content moderation, policy evaluation or adversarial testing.

Japan or the wider East Asia region is preferred; applicants elsewhere are welcome.

What it pays

$48–52 per hour, Mercor's published figure, the common generalist rate shared with the Korean, German, French, Danish and Finnish versions. The Japanese STEM (PhD) version pays $68–72, the largest step up between generalist and PhD in the series.

Payments are weekly via Stripe or Wise, based on services rendered.

Worth knowing

Good:

• Entry-level bar: a degree in progress qualifies
• No AI experience needed, and training is provided
• Remote, self-scheduled, immediate start
• 8 hires this month when we checked

Less good:

• Sensitive material by design; the topics are not named
• No stated weekly hours or project length; projects can be extended, shortened or ended early
• Independent contractor, no benefits; if you are employed in Japan, check your employer's side-work rules
• H-1B and STEM OPT candidates excluded

About this listing

Posted by Mercor as a part-time remote position, confirmed open on 24 September 2026. Pay, requirements, location preference and payment terms come from the ad; the notes on Japanese and the comparisons are ours. See Mercor.