Workers in China teach robots daily chores, earn ₹57,000 a month folding clothes, sweeping floors and more | Today’s news
Workers in China teach robots everyday tasks. Their movements become training data, helping machines learn to do chores and respond to their real surroundings.
The South China Morning Post reported on Liu Yun, who joined the program after losing her job. The 40-year-old previously worked in the automotive industry. Because of her age, she tried to find another job.
In the Beijing studio, Liu wore a sensor bracelet and chips on her fingers. Instructions appeared on the computer screen as she moved the cups and scrubbed the surfaces. She compared the experience to teaching a 2-year-old child.
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Workers were closely monitored and their productivity and accuracy rankings were displayed on large screens. The daily target was 160 samples, while executives completed over 260. Liu found the repetitive tasks tiring. Washing dishes and wiping tables 200 times a day was already her limit.
Sun, a 22-year-old student from Shanxi, joined during his summer break while looking for an internship. He folded clothes, swept floors and recorded standard movements for robot training.
Daily shifts paid 120 yuan ( ₹1,704), while night shifts paid 135 yuan ( ₹1.915). Sun felt that the money did not justify the physical and mental strain. Many workers left after only a few weeks.
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However, some people who are looking for flexible working hours are fine with the job. Guo Hongjuan from Jiangsu collects data at home for about six hours a day, according to SCMP.
Her tasks include arranging books, wiping tables and moving objects. He earns about 4,000 yuan (approx ₹57,000) per month while taking care of your child.
Robot training now goes beyond homes and studios. In August, Shenzhen-based Physen AI teamed up with a sanitation firm.
Street cleaners wore devices that recorded their movements as they swept the roads. Their reactions to passing e-bikes helped capture changing conditions in a real environment.
Online reactions were mixed, with some users calling the work a cybernetic assembly line. Others likened it to migrant work from home. One worker said that at least he learned to do housework.
“It’s deeply ironic. Humans teach robots to work, but these machines will one day replace the very workers who trained them,” wrote one user.
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Robot training in China
Reuters reported in August that human trainers in China used headsets and controllers to guide simple tasks such as sorting crates and making coffee.
Progress was slow, with beginners sometimes needing 300 tries to produce a usable movement. Experienced coaches may need 50 attempts, according to Reuters.
Such robots could help address worker shortages as China’s population ages and shrinks. But three employees said the subsidized project currently lacks a clear path to profitability. They cited high costs and low data prices as the reason.
Government funding and manufacturing investment are moving faster than the robots’ ability to work beyond carefully planned demonstrations, Reuters added.
