We started Pronto to organize and formalize informal and unskilled labor across every sector of India's economy, and eventually beyond. The people doing this work are the foundation the country rests on but the wages they earn have barely moved in a generation. AI is the first force we see that is capable of exponentially changing that without altering their work.
This is how Pronto is entering the AI space and bringing its Professionals along.
Large language models have done much of their hill climbing over the past five years on the back of scaling laws. Physical AI, in comparison, lags more than five years because the labs don't yet have the data. One kind of data they need is first-person video of people doing real tasks, such as washing dishes and folding laundry, in real environments, showing the arms and hands at work. This work our Professionals do on a job can form a foundational data layer for physical AI.
We have been thinking about this since our inception. For some time now, we have been running a pilot in which the customer can choose to have their job recorded. The Professional carries a small camera that faces outward at the work, and the customer receives the footage afterward. Many customers opt in to have a clear view of what was done while they were out, or a record on hand for the times they can't be home. Through this pilot, Pros on Pronto get to participate in the AI economy directly and earn from the data their work generates.
The program is strictly opt-in and chosen by the customer at booking, job by job. By default, no one is in it. We have no plans to extend it to the majority of our customers.
Unless you have opted-in and paid for the program personally, the Pro doesn't come to the house with a camera. Opt in is not one time, it has to be affirmed before each booking. By default there is no camera involved, and when there is, it's impossible to miss.
A camera in someone's home is a serious thing. Faces and other identifying details in the footage are blurred automatically and no personally identifiable information is ever uploaded or shared. All footage is deleted within 48 hours. Other than the customer, no human can access or review it. We worked for months to ensure we go above and beyond what we're required to do by the law.
Pros in the program have started to see their earnings grow and it is built to keep going that way. None of this is meant to replace the work Professionals do. It is meant to pay them more for it. We'll have more to share soon.
We would love to hear and collaborate with Indian AI labs working on physical AI.
