Indian housewife Nagireddy Sriramyachandra films herself slicing mangoes. She wears a smartphone on her head to record her actions. This footage helps train AI robots for future household tasks.
Sriramyachandra earns 250 rupees ($2.60) for one hour of video. Her recordings are vital for tech companies teaching machines to move like humans. The 25-year-old is one of thousands of AI system trainers in India.
"Who else will give you 250 rupees an hour just for doing housework?" Sriramyachandra asked from her kitchen in Chennai. She added that she might get a robot herself one day.
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Start Your News DetoxTraining Robots for Real-World Tasks
AI chatbots and image generators use digital data. However, building systems that can navigate real-life environments is harder. Developers believe that feeding first-person footage, called egocentric data, into AI models will help robots copy human behavior.
Some AI trainers work from home. Others work in factories or special studios. They use video glasses, head-mounted cameras, and motion sensors.
Sriramyachandra sends her recordings through a special app. The app "blares 'hands not detected' when I’m not recording properly," she said. The AI data company she works for has offices in India and the United States. It lists Fortune 500 companies as clients.
The humanoid robot market is growing fast. Projections suggest more than one billion robots will be in use by 2050. Most will be for industrial and commercial uses. India has become a global hub for creating, processing, and labeling AI data.
"It’s likely that these data collection services will increase," said Aditi Surie. She is a digital labor expert from the Indian Institute for Human Settlements in Bengaluru. Bengaluru is known as India’s Silicon Valley.
The Impact on Workers
Automation offers many benefits, but it also carries risks. India's government think tank, NITI Aayog, noted that most discussions about AI and labor focus on white-collar jobs. They predict job losses in this sector without urgent action.
The think tank also highlighted that little attention is paid to India's 490 million informal workers. These workers form the backbone of the economy. A report released before a global AI summit in India this year emphasized this point.
Ponni, 55, has made flower garlands by the roadside in Bengaluru for ten years. She also got paid to wear a phone on her forehead for recordings.
"The next generation … who might have to do work similar to mine, they will face a problem," Ponni said.
