Indian workers turn everyday tasks into training data for robotics

Indian workers were being paid to wear cameras while performing everyday tasks, supplying footage used to train AI systems that control robots, the BBC reported on 23 October 2026. In Bengaluru, barber Mohammed Ashim recorded his hands for five or six hours daily, while textile worker Mohammed Arman filmed stitching and cutting to supplement his income.

Data companies collect, select and label recordings for technology firms and research organisations. Rashdan Technologies chief executive Shahil Baig said his company paid $5–$10 for eight to 10 hours of recorded work, with higher payments for more elaborate camera setups. He said identifying details were excluded from material delivered to customers and faces were blurred.

The work connects supplementary earnings with unresolved questions about automation. TISS labour studies professor Bino Paul said it was too early to establish whether participating workers’ jobs would be replaced. Humyn Labs founder Manish Agarwal argued that India needed to develop higher-value data processing capabilities rather than remain primarily a footage supplier.