A Wired reporter experimented with DoorDash's new Tasks app, recording videos of everyday activities like laundry and cooking to train AI models. Gig workers earn money by capturing such footage, with the app monitoring hand visibility during recordings. The feature highlights a emerging form of AI-related gig work.
DoorDash has launched Tasks, a gig work app where users are paid to record videos demonstrating routine tasks, aiding the training of artificial intelligence models. In a Wired article published on March 21, 2026, the reporter described their trial of the app. They filmed themselves handling dirty socks and underwear, loading them into a washer, and noted the iPhone camera's flash illuminating the items. The phone emitted loud beeps whenever hands moved out of frame, prompting adjustments to ensure fingers remained visible—described as a requirement for the recording, with the message 'Gotta see those fingers!' The reporter clarified this was not fetish content but legitimate gig work via DoorDash's Tasks app. Additional activities mentioned include scrambling eggs and walking around a park. Keywords associated with the piece include apps, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robots. The app represents DoorDash's expansion into AI data collection through micro-tasks performed by gig workers.
