"We are looking for someone to walk robotic dogs at $20 an hour."
An unusual job posting has caught attention on Facebook's job listings in the San Francisco area.
The position is for a 'robot dog operator.' The main duty involves walking a four-legged robotic dog along designated outdoor routes in San Francisco for 4 to 6 hours.
The pay is set at $20 an hour, which is comparable to typical dog-walking jobs, and payment is made immediately after the shift. The work is conducted independently, and no prior experience with robotics is required. All that is needed is a smartphone, and safety training will be provided at no cost.
Unlike walking a regular dog, there is no need to handle waste. However, in case of emergencies, such as the robot dog stopping suddenly or malfunctioning, the operator may need to carry the 33-pound (about 15 kg) equipment back to the office.
The New York Times reported on October 27 that the job posting comes from Dimensional, a robotics startup based in the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco. Dimensional develops open-source robotic operating systems (OS) aimed at replacing manual labor in real-life tasks, such as heavy lifting.
Stacy Formicter, the founder of Dimensional, stated, "It is frankly barbaric that humans are still doing this kind of physical labor," emphasizing the need for robotic automation.
Dimensional explained that during trials of walking robotic dogs in urban settings, current AI agents showed significant limitations in directly controlling hardware in complex environments. Therefore, the company aims to gather more data from real streets to improve the performance of their robotic OS and AI.
Formicter noted, "There are still situations where human intervention is necessary."
Based on the collected driving data, Dimensional plans to enhance its robotic OS, with the goal of safely deploying robotic dogs and humanoid robots in various industries, including factories, data centers, construction sites, and security tasks.
However, some citizens have expressed concerns about the robotic dog walks, recalling the dystopian future depicted in the movie 'Terminator,' according to the NYT.
In fact, one citizen who harbored negative feelings toward the robotic dogs visited the Dimensional office and sent threatening messages to employees, asking, "Are you enjoying helping randomly slaughter people, you trash?" which led to police involvement.
Formicter humorously remarked, "Such incidents may increase in the future, and in that case, we will need more patrol robots."
The proposed hourly wage of $20 slightly exceeds San Francisco's minimum wage of $19.61. While it is similar to the typical pay for walking regular dogs through platforms like Wag and Rover, local online communities have expressed mixed reactions regarding the compensation level in relation to the job's challenges, particularly the risk of carrying heavy equipment.
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.