I Spent a Week Recording Myself Doing Chores for Money. Who's the Robot Now?

After getting over my initial pangs of disappointment, I felt a twinge of pride. Perhaps I was helping build a better future—one where my grandkids would be blissfully unaware of the cleaning habits I had to cultivate. My pride quickly dissolved, though, the more I considered how I was potentially training the very humanoid robots that could replace humans at jobs beyond the tedious household chores. This was my existence for a full week last month as I performed data collection from the comfort of my apartment, teaching humanoids how to scrub dishes, fold laundry, and pour drinks, among other menial tasks. If robots are ever going to live with us and help out around the house, they need to develop fine motor skills. I performed my household chores with pride (I’m not usually contributing to mass datasets when I put away my jockstraps). And I was glad to make some money too. Reece Rogers

The Big Story

I Spent a Week Recording Myself Doing Chores for Money. Who's the Robot Now?

Cooking. Doing laundry. Tidying up. All your household tasks can be turned into data to train future humanoids—if you’re prepared for the consequences.

I am no longer a mere human being. I am a conduit of reality, a medium of messages. I hold a knife in my hand and slice into an organic cucumber, hunching so the iPhone strapped to my forehead can capture all 10 fingers. I throw the slices into a salad bowl and end the recording. Somewhere, a baby robot is a tiny bit smarter.