Getting paid to teach cleaning robots: a new kind of “human‑in‑the‑loop” work

CNN has highlighted a new employment model where people are paid to train robots to perform household tasks, particularly cleaning. The robots involved are not yet capable of relying purely on pre‑defined algorithms and instead need human guidance and corrections in real environments. Users are asked to demonstrate how to correctly perform certain actions, and the system uses these demonstrations to further train and refine the robot’s behavior.

These projects rely on a combination of robotics and “human‑in‑the‑loop” AI, where humans remain in the control loop of intelligent systems. This approach accelerates adaptation to messy real‑world conditions: different apartment layouts, types of clutter, and varied objects in the environment. For participants, it provides a new form of side income that does not require deep technical skills but offers hands‑on experience with cutting‑edge robotic systems.

Experts believe that as domestic and service robots become more common, the market for this kind of training work is likely to expand. On the one hand, it offers additional jobs during the transition phase of automation; on the other, it raises questions about data protection and transparency around how AI systems use and store human demonstrations.