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Shift will clean homes for free to train future robots

theverge.com

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Re: Shift will clean homes for free to train future robots

#101

Post by userbinator »

hsnv wrote: post #6

I've always found the idea of letting strangers clean my home strange. Maybe I grew up in the wrong tax bracket. I see cleaning your own home, as well as other chores (dishes, laundry) as an act of self-hygiene. If you want a robot to do your chores, that gives me the same feeling as desiring a robot to bathe you, wipe your bottom and genitals after the toilet, brush your teeth for you etc. Of course these are not ap…

For me, it's the invasiveness and lack of agency; your house is the most private space in your life. At least if I do the cleaning myself, there won't be anyone else to blame for things broken or gone missing.

Re: Shift will clean homes for free to train future robots

#102

Post by MobiusHorizons »

stbtrax wrote: post #84
bluGill wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After thinking about this for a while, I'm not sure it really happened. It wouldn't surprise me if the house was not trashed, just a landlord manipulating evidence when they think they can make money in court. There is no particular reason to trust either side and we have not seen what evidence really exists. In particular the reporters didn't do a good job of digging in - at the very least where is the response from…

I don't entirely doubt the landlord but the bizzarre part is the landlord showing up to take their trash and then somehow finding bundles of wires inside the unit. Why would an airbnb host enter the unit to take trash?

That’s part of the process of resetting a property for the next reservation. It’s not bizarre, it’s literally what Airbnb landlords do (or sometimes hire other people to do, but that lowers margins)

Re: Shift will clean homes for free to train future robots

#103

Post by not_a_bot_4sho »

signatoremo wrote: post #99
hsnv wrote: post #6

I've always found the idea of letting strangers clean my home strange. Maybe I grew up in the wrong tax bracket. I see cleaning your own home, as well as other chores (dishes, laundry) as an act of self-hygiene. If you want a robot to do your chores, that gives me the same feeling as desiring a robot to bathe you, wipe your bottom and genitals after the toilet, brush your teeth for you etc. Of course these are not ap…

You are the minority - [0] According to that article: - The global cleaning services market is predicted to grow to roughly $482 billion in 2026 and $859 billion by 2030 with a 7.5% annual growth rate. - There are over 1.4+ million cleaners currently employed in the U.S. - The U.S. janitorial services market is worth $112 billion, with 1+ million cleaning businesses as of 2026. - The average annual pay for a cleaning…

> You are in the minority ... 41% of households use recurring cleaning services ...

Wouldn't that put OP in the majority?

Re: Shift will clean homes for free to train future robots

#104

Post by lobf »

c0balt wrote: post #66
lobf wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>nobody is getting into their car and then taking a nap on the way to the office. Except that you can do exactly this with Waymo for the last 2 years.

You can iif you live in on of the supported cities that is not currently suspended. Waymo is a promising participant here, but it very much isn't at the "just be driven to work stage" for almost everyone.

>You can iif you live in on of the supported cities that is not currently suspended.

Yes. The claim was that “nobody” is doing this today when in fact tens / hundreds of thousands of people are doing this today. The tech is here, next is widespread adoption.

Re: Shift will clean homes for free to train future robots

#105

Post by lobf »

autoexec wrote: post #71
lobf wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>nobody is getting into their car and then taking a nap on the way to the office. Except that you can do exactly this with Waymo for the last 2 years.

Not "their car" and also extremely limited in availability and has remote drivers taking over when needed. We're not in the future just yet

The claim was that “nobody” is doing this. It’s weird to split hairs on whether or not the own the car. Who cares if you’re napping in a driverless vehicle on the way to work?

Re: Shift will clean homes for free to train future robots

#106

Post by Avshalom »

aleyan wrote: post #29

"I always thought that Homejoy were planning to automate as much as possible, if not everything, related to cleaning services using robotics and stuff, and that humans were only a temporary measure while developing technology." -devgutt 2015 [0] This quote about robots doing home cleaning has been living in my head rent free, and refusing to cleanup after itself, for over a decade. It seemed so crazy to me in 2015 th…

robots can not yet plausibly walk into our homes.

Re: Shift will clean homes for free to train future robots

#107

Post by derektank »

hsnv wrote: post #6

I've always found the idea of letting strangers clean my home strange. Maybe I grew up in the wrong tax bracket. I see cleaning your own home, as well as other chores (dishes, laundry) as an act of self-hygiene. If you want a robot to do your chores, that gives me the same feeling as desiring a robot to bathe you, wipe your bottom and genitals after the toilet, brush your teeth for you etc. Of course these are not ap…

I would absolutely purchase a robotic tool that brushes my teeth for me. I’m sure it would be much better I am at cleaning my teeth. I already use an electric toothbrush and a waterpik for exactly this reason.

Re: Shift will clean homes for free to train future robots

#108

Post by arthurcolle »

fmbb wrote: post #89
necubi wrote: post #11

Better this than the Bot Company, which has been apparently renting out AirBnBs for robot testing and leaving them trashed: https://sfstandard.com/2026/05/28/sf-startup-secretly-testin...

Seems like there is some synergy to be found here!

Good cop, bad cop

Re: Shift will clean homes for free to train future robots

#109

Post by MattGaiser »

Lammy wrote: post #45
ShowalkKama wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If you want a robot to do your chores you mean like a dishwasher or a washing machine?

You are confusing letting a machine make decisions about what needs to be done with using a machine to remove toil from the things I have decided.

I guess I am mostly intrigued that those lists would differ greatly with respect to cleaning.

Re: Shift will clean homes for free to train future robots

#110

Post by Mezzie »

sublinear wrote: post #4

> As its website puts it: “You get a spotless apartment. We get training data. Everyone wins.” I don't really agree in certain cases of apartment cleaning. I learned a lot with my first one bedroom apartment, and I wouldn't trade that experience for anything. There's a fine line between luxury/convenience and laziness/helplessness. It doesn't really sit right with me even though I do think a proper science fiction cl…

This would be great for me.

I have MS. Currently, my sister lives with me and does the chores (I pay our bills), but she's planning on moving out soon.

Paying for a human cleaner is doable but expensive for me, and my disability means keeping up with chores can be difficult or dangerous. For example, I have balance issues that can make using a ladder or stepstool dangerous.

It's less that I'm lazy and more that I don't want to crack my head open + there are multiple times a year when all I can do is work and rest in bed.

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