Building for AI: House cleaning app Pronto recorded videos using its staff
Last Updated: 2026-05-25 09:20:04
Meta has been in the news for its smart glasses that are reportedly being used to train for the future robot workforce. And now, Pronto, an Indian startup has made the headlines for getting its staff equipped with cameras that can record all the work they do in your house. AI is proving to be a job disruptor putting millions out of work and making the skilled workforce somewhat immune to the changes.
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Pronto staff film cleanings to train AI systems- Privacy fears grow as videos train humanoid robots
- Other house service apps reject recording for AI model training.
However, with the advent of humanoid robots on the horizon, the need for a dataset to train these robots have got companies working on overdrive to have them ready to be deployed in the near future.
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Camera’s watching you
Pronto assigns a cleaner for your house, who can even do the dishes. They enter your house with a camera mounted on their head and able to record all the activities they do. This is a lot like how many workers across factories are being asked to wear the Meta smart glasses and capture everything they do to make different products and items.
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Pronto is said to be using this model to record video data and eventually make it available for companies that can build AI models to train the humanoids. This is a classic case of people training AI that will eventually replace them and probably work better and faster than them. The report from Entracker has unravelled a dangerous problem that not only puts customers at risk of their privacy but also the lack of clarity about how these businesses function.
Pronto claims the camera recording is done to keep its customers assured about letting a stranger enter their house and do the work, but the report has highlighted the ‘physical AI’ and robotics training data mentioned in an investor memo which reveals the dark side of these practices.
How safe is your house
The need for stricter data privacy laws has become urgent with the use of recording for AI training becoming the next dark frontier in the country. Pronto’s own admission of its practices will have done little to ease the concerns of people relying on these services for daily tasks.
There are others like Urban Company and Snabbit, who have distanced themselves from the ‘recording for AI’ practices. “In the interest of transparency: yes, we were approached by several players and yes, we have studied how this technology works. But understanding something and deploying it in our customers' homes are two very different things. We have not done the latter, have no partnership with anyone in this regard, and have no intention of changing that,” as written by Aayush Agarwal, founder, Snabbit in a post on X.
The AI threat is real and even though many are hoping to live with the rise of the technology, you might want to look beyond the fascination and keep the dystopian reality well in your mind before it becomes a problem that is hard to solve.