Why is human LLM annotation so expensive? [D]

Human LLM annotation can be prohibitively expensive, particularly when relying on services like Scale AI, which emphasize quality and domain expertise. While platforms like MTurk offer lower costs, they often fall short in delivering the accuracy needed for specialized tasks. This creates a challenge for small teams requiring a few thousand labeled examples to refine evaluations or fine-tune models. Finding a balance between quality and cost is essential. How are others navigating this landscape? Are you managing annotations manually, or have you discovered effective solutions?