DoorDash will start paying gig workers for creating content to train AI models
TL;DR
DoorDash has launched 'Tasks', a new feature letting Dashers complete short activities between deliveries or on their own time.
Key Points
- Examples include photographing restaurant dishes or recording unscripted video conversations in non-English languages — all to train AI and robotics models.
- The collected data will be used for DoorDash's own AI models as well as those of partner companies in retail, insurance, hospitality, and tech.
- A standalone pilot app will handle content submissions; pay is shown upfront and varies by task complexity.
Nauti's Take
The model is clever, but no one should be surprised: gig platforms have always perfected the art of extracting maximum value for minimum pay. Now the same logic is being applied to AI data labeling.
Welcome to the future, where your food delivery driver moonlights as a training data producer for the robot that might eventually replace them. DoorDash calls it 'Tasks' — one could also call it 'offloading AI infrastructure costs onto your own workforce.
' The real question is whether the upfront pay will actually be worth anyone's time.
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