This company’s delivery drivers are being paid to help train AI, here’s how

AI adoption is becoming more common day by day, as everyone tries to keep up with the future. Be it the people around you or the megacorps that run various things all over the world. While using AI has become common, unfortunately, not every major player has fully aligned itself with training these systems, as it’s not an easy task. But between all this, though, the delivery company, DoorDash, has found quite an interesting way to train the AI datasets. And that’s using its vast network of delivery partners. Not only are they training AI systems, but they’re also paying money to their drivers. Let’s take a deep dive into how this new system works. 

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How does ‘Tasks’ work?

The company explained that this new feature, called ‘Tasks’, is basically a set of short activities that the delivery partners would be able to complete between their normal deliveries. On the completion of these tasks, the company pays a sum of money to the delivery partners. 

Speaking of what the tasks include, they are basic things like helping a restaurant showcase its menu by taking real photos of its dishes and helping a hotel make sure a delivery driver can find a drop-off location by taking photos of the hotel entrance. 

While the ‘Tasks’ feature is currently available via the official DoorDash delivery partner app, the company also confirmed their plans for the future. As per them, they will be launching a separate and standalone app altogether, which will feature all these tasks separately. 

DoorDash’s official blog post talked about the standalone Tasks app; as they said, “We’re also piloting a new standalone app where Dashers can complete activities like filming everyday tasks or recording themselves speaking in another language.” 

Why is DoorDash training AI?

As per DoorDash, their new ‘Tasks’ app is a new way for their delivery partners to earn beyond their delivery fees. Along with that, they also suggest that it’s useful for businesses to get the on-the-ground insights. But that’s not the full story, as there’s a lot more going on here. 

While DoorDash is targeting it as a way for delivery partners to earn more, their main motive behind launching this is to train AI to understand the real world. Their official blog post reads, “This data helps AI and robotic systems understand the physical world. Pay is shown upfront and determined based on effort and complexity of the activity.”

Currently, AI is booming, and major companies are trying to invest in these AI solutions to keep up with the future. While implementing the usage of AI isn’t tough, training the systems is a much different thing. Something that cannot be done without a strong network like DoorDash’s. Given how the company has spent so many years building the network of its delivery partners, it does make sense that it would pivot in this direction.

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Madhav Banka

Madhav works as a consultant at Digit, covering news, branded and feature stories. He has been writing about tech and video games since 2020. While not busy working, you'll usually find him roaming around Delhi in hopes of getting good pictures, playing video games or watching films and F1 during weekends. View Full Profile