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Shift will clean homes for free to train future robots

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

#121

Post by maxbond »

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?

They said they saw the wires through the window. Presumably they didn't enter the unit.

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

#122

Post by appreciatorBus »

JoshTriplett wrote: post #81
ryandrake wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The way I see it is: My time is worth $0 unless I'd otherwise be earning money . So if you're an hourly contract worker, and you would otherwise be billing $100/hr to write code or something, then it makes sense to pay a gardener to mow your lawn and a plumber to fix your toilet, as long as it's less than you're making. But instead, if you'd otherwise just be doom scrolling on your phone or jerking off, you might as…

> But instead, if you'd otherwise just be doom scrolling on your phone or jerking off, you might as well mow that lawn yourself. Paying someone any amount of money is a waste. It sounds like you're saying "pay someone to save you time if you use the time to work, but not if you use the time to relax". One of the best possible uses of money is to save you time, no matter what you use the time for.

That assumes there is no value whatsoever in doing your own chores. If you want to value time w/friends & family over chores, fair enough, but doing chores is definitely a better & more valuable use of time than zoning out tik tok or gambling etc.

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

#123

Post by oidar »

bruhlikereally wrote: post #116
somethoughts wrote: post #68

It would seem like such an obvious win-win if these cleaning robotics companies just won a couple of contracts with some tech forward hotel chains. - Faster R&D since hotel rooms are regular/familiar - Cost center for hotels so revenue would be higher/straightforward - No privacy issues since robots would not be present in rooms with guests - Easier servicing/maintenance since multiple robots at same location

Does not make any sense for them since it’s not a unique environment. You could rent one hotel room or build a cheap replica and get all of your training done in one shot. They’re obviously trying to hit unique environments with many different unforeseen obstacles to overcome.

> Does not make any sense for them since it’s not a unique environment.

nonsense. If it worked for one hotel, that would be ground breaking. Hotels would line up to have theirs be the next test case.

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

#125

Post by ehsankia »

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.

No? The only different between these robots and a washing machine is that in theory, the robot is generalist and can do many tasks, whereas a washing or laundry machine can only do one task. You can still in theory fully control what task the robot works on. Also, in theory, the robot would be the glue between all the other machines, like filling up the washing machine, then moving it to the dryer, etc. It deciding what to do isn't a "prerequisite" for the robot.

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

#126

Post by adrianmonk »

woah wrote: post #92
somethoughts wrote: post #68

It would seem like such an obvious win-win if these cleaning robotics companies just won a couple of contracts with some tech forward hotel chains. - Faster R&D since hotel rooms are regular/familiar - Cost center for hotels so revenue would be higher/straightforward - No privacy issues since robots would not be present in rooms with guests - Easier servicing/maintenance since multiple robots at same location

These guys may actually just be angling to sell off the training data. diverse training data is more valuable

Also, cleaning kitchens is a huge part of the job. Hotel rooms either have no kitchen or a very minimal one. You're not going to learn how to clean an oven or load a dishwasher in a hotel room. (And loading a dishwasher requires categorizing thousands of things as dishwasher safe or not! Stainless steel skillet, yes; cast iron skillet, no; etc.)

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

#127

Post by yen223 »

quietbritishjim wrote: post #117
not_a_bot_4sho wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You are in the minority ... 41% of households use recurring cleaning services ... Wouldn't that put OP in the majority?

If 41% of households are actively employing a cleaner then it seems very likely that more than 50% would be happy to have their home cleaned if only they could afford it (as opposed to the commenter starting this thread, who seems to see household cleaning as a positive part of their life).

How big of a bubble do you have to be in to be thinking "I like cleaning" is the majority position among normal people?

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

#129

Post by zeafoamrun »

cogogo wrote: post #63
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...

Move fast, break things

Like your favorite lamp.

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

#130

Post by TZubiri »

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?

I read that the host took the trash, which was outside the house, and through the window he saw the cables and the man with the laptop.
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