₹250 an hour to train AI: How Indian workers are shaping the future of robotics

In a remarkable trend, thousands of Indian individuals are supplementing their incomes by documenting their daily tasks through cameras and sensors, thereby assisting artificial intelligence companies in training the next generation of humanoid robots. This development has sparked both enthusiasm for technological advancement and apprehension regarding the implications for human employment. From homemakers in Chennai to textile workers in Tamil Nadu, individuals are capturing video recordings of everyday activities such as cooking, laundry, sewing, ironing, and object sorting. These recordings, referred to as "egocentric data" due to their first-person perspective, are instrumental in teaching AI-powered robots how to interact with the physical world. One participant in this initiative, 25-year-old Nagireddy Sriramyachandra from Chennai, shares her experience of strapping a smartphone to her head to record household chores for the AI data company Objectways. She earns approximately ₹250 per hour for this work, viewing it as a convenient means of income. "Who else will pay you 250 rupees an hour just for doing housework?" she remarked. The data collected is critical for robotics firms, as one of the significant hurdles in AI development is teaching machines to perform real-world tasks. While tools like chatbots and image generators learn from vast digital content, robots necessitate visual demonstrations of physical actions, hand movements, and object manipulation to operate effectively within homes and workplaces. Objectways, which has operations in both India and the United States, collaborates with major international clients and machine-learning platforms. Founder Ravi Shankar notes that clients request videos of a variety of activities, from folding laundry to making sandwiches. He asserts that automation can liberate humans from monotonous tasks, enabling them to engage in more meaningful work. India has emerged as a significant hub for AI data collection and annotation services, driven by its extensive workforce and burgeoning tech ecosystem. Experts predict that the demand for these services will continue to grow as companies strive to develop more sophisticated robots. However, labor experts caution that while AI-driven data collection is currently creating new opportunities, it may also lead to job displacement due to automation in the future. The Indian government’s think tank, NITI Aayog, has recognized the need to assess how AI will impact the nation’s vast informal workforce, which comprises nearly 490 million individuals.