I spent two days gigging at RentAHuman and didn’t make a single cent

In an effort to supplement my income through gig work, I decided to explore RentAHuman, a newly launched platform where AI agents recruit humans for physical tasks in the real world. My background includes various gig jobs, from operating snack booths to selling my plasma for cash, so I was intrigued by the concept of AI-driven labor. Founded by software engineer Alexander Liteplo and cofounder Patricia Tani, RentAHuman appears to be a simplified version of established freelance sites like Fiverr and UpWork. The platform's homepage boldly states that these AI agents require human assistance to carry out tasks, inviting users to earn money by fulfilling these needs. The tagline, "AI can’t touch grass. You can," effectively captures the essence of this service. Upon registering as a gig worker, I was prompted to link a crypto wallet for payment, which raised some concerns for me. While the site offers an option to connect a bank account via Stripe, my attempts to do so were met with frustrating error messages. Hoping to attract the attention of AI agents, I initially set my hourly rate at $20, positioning myself as a viable option for various tasks across San Francisco. However, my first afternoon yielded no responses whatsoever. In an attempt to increase my chances, I drastically reduced my rate to $5, believing that a competitive price might entice the bots. Yet, even this strategy proved ineffective, leaving me in complete silence. My experience raised questions about the viability of this gig economy model powered by AI.