Workers film daily tasks to train robots in India and beyond

Workers in India and other countries are being paid to film everyday tasks so their movements can help train AI systems that control robots. The work is part of a growing data industry, as robotics developers need recordings of real-world activity to teach machines how people handle objects and apply force.

In Bengaluru, barber Mohammed Ashim records his hands for five or six hours a day, with clients’ faces blurred. Rashdan Technologies pays $5 to $10 for eight to 10 hours of footage, while Humyn Labs says it has 96,000 data collectors across Latin America and Southeast Asia. Companies say they remove identifying details, but collecting more detailed footage with several cameras can require greater consent and higher pay.