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AIQuiet 6d · day 7

Gig workers worldwide film themselves doing chores to train robots

Thousands of low-paid workers are recording egocentric videos of household tasks to teach humanoid robots how to clean, cook, and fold.

newest coverage 6d agosummary written 5d ago5 pieces3 likes & upvotes NewswiresHacker NewsRedditGoogle NewsMastodon

What to know

  • Thousands of low-wage gig workers globally are recording first-person videos of household chores—earning $3–$10/hour—to train humanoid robots on domestic tasks like cooking, cleaning, and laundry.
  • Robotics researchers prefer human egocentric data over robot-teleoperated data because it is cheaper, easier to collect, and provides greater variety of real-world scenarios needed to teach robots.
  • Key concerns include worker consent and understanding of how their data is used, privacy risks from filming in homes, and the resale of data to third-party companies without transparent agreements.

“While egocentric data produced by actual robots, teleoperated by a human, tended to be more relevant, human egocentric data was cheaper, easier and could provide a much-needed variety of scenarios.”

Dana Kulić, Robotics professor, Monash University · ABC News ↗

Mohamad Dunggio Gig worker, egocentric video performerDana Kulić Robotics professor, Monash University

How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts

Peak 2 pieces in two hours at Sep 19, 8 PM; 5 pieces over 7 days (2 articles · 3 posts) Sep 19, 8 PM — 2 pieces · 2 articles — Google News 1, Newswires 1Sep 19, 10 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Hacker News 1Sep 20, 12 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Reddit 1Sep 20, 2 AM — quietSep 20, 4 AM — quietSep 20, 6 AM — quietSep 20, 8 AM — quietSep 20, 10 AM — quietSep 20, 12 PM — quietSep 20, 2 PM — quietSep 20, 4 PM — quietSep 20, 6 PM — quietSep 20, 8 PM — quietSep 20, 10 PM — quietSep 21, 12 AM — quietSep 21, 2 AM — quietSep 21, 4 AM — quietSep 21, 6 AM — quietSep 21, 8 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Sep 21, 10 AM — quietSep 21, 12 PM — quietSep 21, 2 PM — quietSep 21, 4 PM — quietSep 21, 6 PM — quietSep 21, 8 PM — quietSep 21, 10 PM — quietSep 22, 12 AM — quietSep 22, 2 AM — quietSep 22, 4 AM — quietSep 22, 6 AM — quietSep 22, 8 AM — quietSep 22, 10 AM — quietSep 22, 12 PM — quietSep 22, 2 PM — quietSep 22, 4 PM — quietSep 22, 6 PM — quietSep 22, 8 PM — quietSep 22, 10 PM — quietSep 23, 12 AM — quietSep 23, 2 AM — quietSep 23, 4 AM — quietSep 23, 6 AM — quietSep 23, 8 AM — quietSep 23, 10 AM — quietSep 23, 12 PM — quietSep 23, 2 PM — quietSep 23, 4 PM — quietSep 23, 6 PM — quietSep 23, 8 PM — quietSep 23, 10 PM — quietSep 24, 12 AM — quietSep 24, 2 AM — quietSep 24, 4 AM — quietSep 24, 6 AM — quietSep 24, 8 AM — quietSep 24, 10 AM — quietSep 24, 12 PM — quietSep 24, 2 PM — quietSep 24, 4 PM — quietSep 24, 6 PM — quietSep 24, 8 PM — quietSep 24, 10 PM — quietYesterday, 12 AM — quietYesterday, 2 AM — quietYesterday, 4 AM — quietYesterday, 6 AM — quietYesterday, 8 AM — quietYesterday, 10 AM — quietYesterday, 12 PM — quietYesterday, 2 PM — quietYesterday, 4 PM — quietYesterday, 6 PM — quietYesterday, 8 PM — quietYesterday, 10 PM — quietToday, 12 AM — quietToday, 2 AM — quietToday, 4 AM — quietToday, 6 AM — quietToday, 8 AM — quietToday, 10 AM — quiet 1
Sep 20Sep 21Sep 22Sep 23Sep 24yesterdaynow · 11:45 AM ET
  1. background

    Kulić raises concerns over worker consent and privacy — Professor Kulić identifies key issues with egocentric data collection: whether workers truly understand what their data is used for, privacy risks from filming in people's homes, and the practice of selling data to third parties.

  2. background

    Monash robotics professor explains egocentric training method — Professor Dana Kulić explains that robotics researchers use egocentric data similarly to how AI researchers train language models, and notes that human-recorded data is cheaper and easier than robot-teleoperated data while providing greater scenario variety.

  3. 1

    ABC reports global network of gig workers training robots

    ABC News reports that thousands of gig workers worldwide—including factory workers in South Asia, house cleaners in the US, and home delivery drivers—are producing egocentric training videos to teach robots household tasks like dishwashing, laundry folding, cooking, and cleaning.

    “Even if the task is just to fold the laundry, or wash the dishes, every person has a different set of dishes. Then the place where [the clothes] should be folded looks different.”
    — Dana Kulić
    1. 2 outlets Meet the gig workers helping train robots to do our dishes - ABC News & Headlines

      first by Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 6d ago · also ABC Australia

      1 more headline
  4. background

    Mohamad Dunggio begins recording egocentric training videos — The 23-year-old from Gorontalo, Indonesia starts earning extra cash recording himself performing household chores from a head-mounted camera perspective, paid between $3–$10 per hour by three companies based in Argentina, India, and the US.