Your dirty windows could help create AI-powered cleaning robots.
Shift, an AI training startup, is offering free home cleanings in New York City, it said on Thursday. There's one catch: cleaners wear head-mounted cameras that record first-person footage while they scrub bathrooms, mop floors, and organize kitchens.
The company said the footage will help train household robots and AI systems to complete chores autonomously in the future.
"Your home. Cleaned for free," the company says on its website, which advertises services ranging from laundry folding and dishwashing to fridge organization and bathroom scrubbing.
The offering is the latest example of the booming AI training space. Companies, from startups to bigger players like Uber and LinkedIn, are trying to get in on the action. And while many of the jobs training AI focus on white-collar work, some, like Shift's, attempt to train AI for physical tasks in the real world.
Shift said the training data generated from routine household tasks is valuable enough to subsidize the cleaning service entirely.
The startup said it operates across more than 15 countries and works with thousands of people to record videos for AI training. The company also has a form on its website for people interested in working for the service.
Shift said on its website that it protects customers' privacy, "with any sensitive details blurred" in the video before the footage is used for AI training.
And don't be ashamed if your apartment is particularly dirty, Shift says. In fact, grubbier might be better.
"More challenging cleaning environments can be especially useful," an FAQ document posted on the company's website reads.
"That said, cleaners may decline any specific task they are not comfortable performing."
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Alex Bitter is a senior retail reporter covering the gig economy, food, and retail. His work focuses major gig delivery and ride-hailing apps, including Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart, and Walmart's Spark. He is interested in everything from what it's like to work on the apps to the companies' business strategies.Some of his recent stories feature gig workers who have been deactivated on the apps, DoorDash hiring traditional employees to make deliveries, gig workers' use of bots, and gig work expanding into new professions, such as nursing.Alex has also written about Aldi's US expansion, Starbucks' turnaround efforts, and the fallout from Kraft-Heinz's budget cutting. Convenience store chain Sheetz ended its "smile policy" after his reporting.Before joining Insider in September 2020, he wrote about consumer and retail companies for S&P Global Market Intelligence. He's a graduate of the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa and grew up on the Big Island.Alex lives in the Washington, DC, area, where you can find him studying ancient coins or searching for Civil War artifacts with his metal detector in his free time.Got a tip? Reach out at [email protected] or via encrypted messaging app Signal at +1 (808) 854-4501.
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