I Tried DoorDash’s Tasks App and Saw the Bleak Future of AI Gig Work
Gig workers now film themselves folding laundry and cooking eggs to train robots, earning an estimated $0.37 per task.
DoorDash has expanded beyond food delivery with its new 'Tasks' app, which pays gig workers to generate training data for AI and robotics. Users film themselves performing specific physical tasks—like loading a washing machine, frying eggs, or changing a lightbulb—while wearing a smartphone mounted to their chest. The app pays a standard rate of $15 per hour, with tasks capped at short durations; one laundry-loading gig paid an estimated $0.37 for 1.5 minutes of work. DoorDash states this "helps AI and robotic systems understand the physical world," and the company plans to expand the range of tasks and users.
Available tasks are divided into five categories: household chores, handiwork projects, cooking, location navigation, and foreign language conversations. The app uses automated checks, like beeping alerts when hands leave the frame, to ensure data quality. However, the service is notably unavailable in several major markets, including California, New York City, Seattle, and Colorado, likely due to stricter gig worker regulations. This initiative represents a significant shift in the gig economy, monetizing everyday human activity not for a service, but as raw data to advance automation.
- Pays $15/hour for filming chores like laundry and cooking, with tasks often paying less than $0.50 each
- Explicitly gathers video data to train AI models and humanoid robots in physical task comprehension
- Currently blocked in California, NYC, Seattle, and Colorado, likely due to regulatory concerns
Why It Matters
It creates a new, low-wage data-labeling gig economy and accelerates AI's understanding of the physical world for robotics.