DoorDash’s New App: A Step Towards AI and Robotics
The Food delivery app, DoorDash, is stepping into a new venture with their latest gig work application, Tasks. Contrary to their food delivery service, Tasks focuses on gathering training data from humans to enhance artificial intelligence (AI) and robotic systems. The primary objective is to allow AI and robots to understand the physical world better, based on the data collected from the app users.
DoorDash’s press release mentions, “This data helps AI and robotic systems understand the physical world. Payment is shown upfront and determined based on the effort and complexity of the activity.” The app mainly requires users to strap a smartphone to their chest and record their hands performing certain tasks.
How DoorDash’s Tasks App Works
Tasks app is designed to capture video data of humans performing various tasks. This data plays a significant role in improving the performance of AI models and robotic systems. For instance, thousands of recorded videos of people folding laundry could be used to train a robot to perform the same task using computer vision.
Photo: Reece Rogers
Expansion Plans and Task Availability
DoorDash plans to expand the Tasks app to a wider range of tasks and users in the future. However, it is still uncertain where the app will be available when it launches in the US. Currently, residents of California, New York City, Seattle, and Colorado are explicitly prohibited from using Tasks.
Tasks Offered by DoorDash
Tasks currently available in the app fall into five main categories: chores, craft projects, cooking food, location navigation, and foreign language conversations. The chores can range from simple tasks like making the bed or taking out the trash. Craft projects vary from changing a light bulb to more complex tasks like pouring cement. Cooking gigs mainly involve eggs: frying them, poaching them, scrambling them. Navigation gigs include exploring a museum and walking through an apartment complex. For voice-based tasks, the app requests “natural conversations” in Russian and Mandarin Chinese, as well as other languages.
This innovative approach by DoorDash to gather data for improving AI and robotic systems exemplifies how gig economy can contribute to technological advancements. With Tasks, not only are users able to earn money for performing everyday tasks, but they also become part of a bigger initiative that could revolutionize AI and robotics.
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