How Sapien is creating the AI gig economy — powered by humans and blockchain

Sam kamani

September 24, 2025

AI isn’t replacing humans — it’s hiring them.

That’s the central message from Ben Noble, Marketing Director at Sapien AI, in this episode of Web3 with Sam Kamani. As AI continues to scale, so does its need for diverse, high-quality, human-generated data — and Sapien is meeting that demand by turning data collection into a gig economy.

In short: if AI is the engine, real people are still the fuel.

From AI → Web3 → Full Circle

Ben’s journey started in AI but took a detour through Web3 before circling back. That unique perspective shaped how Sapien blends the best of both worlds — combining blockchain's transparency and user incentives with the growing demand for better AI data.

Sapien isn't building a chatbot. It’s building the world’s first decentralized data foundry, where anyone can earn rewards by helping train machine learning models. Think microtasks like labeling images, verifying data, or even submitting voice samples. The outputs? AI models used in industries ranging from automotive to enterprise tech.

“We’re working with companies like Alibaba and even the UN,” Ben notes. “But instead of scraping public data, we’re creating a system where humans are invited to contribute — and rewarded for it.”

So, how does it work?

On Sapien’s platform, users — known as "trainers" — perform bite-sized tasks to validate or generate data. In return, they earn points, USDC, and soon, crypto. The more tasks you complete, the higher your reputation, which means more access and better rewards.

It’s crowdsourcing, but gamified and decentralized.

And crucially, blockchain ensures every contribution is traceable and fairly rewarded. No middlemen. No black-box algorithms deciding who gets paid.

Why human data still matters

Despite massive leaps in AI, Ben emphasizes that context, empathy, and diversity are still uniquely human inputs.

Training an AI to understand handwritten doctor’s notes or diagnose sounds in a car engine isn’t just about big data — it’s about the right kind of data. That’s where Sapien’s contributors come in, and why the platform invests in anti-bot safeguards and human quality checks.

Storytelling in AI and Web3

Ben also dives deep into growth strategy. His top marketing advice for founders?

Speed > perfection. Don’t wait for the perfect deck — get your story out fast.
Simple is powerful. One-liners beat jargon-heavy explainers.
Show, don’t tell. Impact isn’t about numbers; it’s about what those numbers mean.

“It’s not about saying ‘we’ve processed 2 million data points,’” Ben says. “It’s about saying, ‘we’ve mapped enough data to reach the moon and back — three times.’”

That kind of storytelling helps tech startups break through noise — especially in crowded spaces like AI and Web3.

What’s next for Sapien?

The team is closing their Series A and scaling to over 1 million contributors globally. As more AI systems come online, the demand for trustworthy, diverse training data will only grow. Sapien is betting big that humans — real people with unique insights — are key to unlocking the next evolution in artificial intelligence.

Want to get involved or earn by training AI? Head to game.sapien.io to start.