So...if I just happened to know a landlord with several thousand college student tenants busy moving out right now - should he contact Shift? Or does he need to remind his tenants of his own high cleaning fees, then helpfully suggest that they contact Shift?
Shift will clean homes for free to train future robots
201–210 of 272 posts
Re: Shift will clean homes for free to train future robots
#202Better 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...
Actually shift should just partner with Airbnb. Airbnb takes out the cleaning fee from the app, customers benefit, owners get a free cleaning service, Airbnb wins, Shift wins. And if Airbnb invests in Shift, even better.
> Airbnb takes out the cleaning fee from the app
Why would they do that?
Airbnb should invest in Shift, continue to encourage exorbitant cleaning fees, and subsidize discounts for hosts so that they're incentivized to fire their current housekeeping providers and switch to Shift.
Re: Shift will clean homes for free to train future robots
#203Earlier quoted context omitted.
> brush your teeth for you aka electric toothbrush > wipe your bottom and genitals after the toilet aka a bidet (or a toilet seat with a bidet) > robot to bathe you aka a shower > dishes aka a dishwasher > laundry aka a washer If you want to do stuff yourself, use a manual toothbrush, learn how to wash your own clothes without a washer (people do this all the time, BTW), wash your own dishes without a dishwasher, don…
Weird leap. If we go by your logic, then broom is replaced by a vacuum cleaner. Automating something completely, aka getting someone to for it for you is a completely different thing.
[dead]
Re: Shift will clean homes for free to train future robots
#204Better 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...
Actually shift should just partner with Airbnb. Airbnb takes out the cleaning fee from the app, customers benefit, owners get a free cleaning service, Airbnb wins, Shift wins. And if Airbnb invests in Shift, even better.
The fact that they're not partnering with Airbnb tells us what we need to know. The top of this thread is more likely now: they're interested in surveilling the people, not the buildings.
Re: Shift will clean homes for free to train future robots
#205Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
He means it doesn’t make sense for the startup. The comment you’re replying to, is arguing that this point from the gp is a disadvantage instead of an advantage:
> hotel rooms are regular/familiar
Re: Shift will clean homes for free to train future robots
#206Earlier quoted context omitted.
> brush your teeth for you aka electric toothbrush > wipe your bottom and genitals after the toilet aka a bidet (or a toilet seat with a bidet) > robot to bathe you aka a shower > dishes aka a dishwasher > laundry aka a washer If you want to do stuff yourself, use a manual toothbrush, learn how to wash your own clothes without a washer (people do this all the time, BTW), wash your own dishes without a dishwasher, don…
Weird leap. If we go by your logic, then broom is replaced by a vacuum cleaner. Automating something completely, aka getting someone to for it for you is a completely different thing.
I call that harpoon logic or half-dimensional logic. Works this way:
A subject is at the top of a cliff, facing the sea.
"I'd like to see the sea scenery better by approaching the edge".
A step is undertaken. The harpoon enters the mind.
"Oh, so I took this step, I've got to take another one".
N steps are undertaken. The subject is at the very edge right now.
"But hey, one can't stop the progress. Red lines, enough is enough, notions of overdevelopment etc are all excuses for luddites who don't value the merits of automation, easing the humankind's burden and removing all obstacles on the way to the best sea view".
A step more is undertaken.
Thunderous applause, turning into a standing ovation. And... Curtain!
Re: Shift will clean homes for free to train future robots
#207If training robots doesn't pan out, they could always pivot and use the data to train AI to control humans instead. Some industries such as Amazon warehouse pickers and drivers are effectively already this. https://marshallbrain.com/manna1
The thing actually ordered around people how to clean a restroom step by step. Yikes.
I've never seen so much disdain for minimum wage workers.
------ "For example, when Jane entered the restroom, Manna used a simple position tracking system built into her headset to know that she had arrived. Manna then told her the first step.
Manna: “Place the ‘wet floor’ warning cone outside the door please.”
When Jane completed the task, she would speak the word “OK” into her headset and Manna moved to the next step in the restroom cleaning procedure.
Manna: “Please block the door open with the door stop.”
Jane: “OK.”
Manna: “Please retrieve the bucket and mop from the supply closet.”
Jane: “OK.”
And so on."
Re: Shift will clean homes for free to train future robots
#208Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is plenty of money to be made selling home layouts to police Is there?
Came here to post exactly this. Is there, really?
I would guess so, they seem interested in the ring cameras https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2025/09/30/ring-police-partn...
Re: Shift will clean homes for free to train future robots
#209Re: Shift will clean homes for free to train future robots
#210I'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…
> tax bracket
From late 19th to early 20th centuries, it was common for British workers to hire charwomen to clean their places. Domestic service was the most typical job for women by the time. Historically it wasn't really something exclusive for the rich.