(Yicai) May 15 -- China’s embodied intelligence boom is spawning a new job category. Stay-at-home mothers and factory workers are getting paid to collect the real-world data used to teach robots how to do house chores and other tasks.

These jobs are being offered by a mix of companies in embodied intelligence, data collection, and human resources, according to job listings. The roles are based either at company training facilities or in designated work environments.

A few years ago, Wang Yanan was still a food delivery rider. After joining Shanxi Boyue Technology, he switched to autonomous-driving data collection. When the company began taking orders for embodied intelligence data collection in the second half of last year, he was among the first to start doing this work.

Compared with the monotony of vehicle-data collection, he said, the new work assignments change from day to day. He has recorded a range of embodied data from inside homes, hotels, and outdoor parks, filming himself, while wearing the necessary equipment, folding clothes, wiping tables, and even making sandwiches.

His output and quality are among the best in his team. In a home setting, Wang said, he can gather more than 200 video clips in a single day.

This new job category also offers the opportunity of part-time work for some stay-at-home mothers. One young mother of two told Yicai that she has recently become a home data collector at Longyu Big Data.

She is tasked with using a gripper device to pick up various objects placed around her home according to daily instructions. On May 12, for example, she completed and recorded tasks involving clothing bags, building blocks, toy cars, and trash cabs, all while her children were asleep.

Both she and Wang said the job is easy to learn, but doing it well requires patience. Once familiar with the equipment and workflow, efficiency improves, they pointed out.

The same task often has to be recorded in several different environments at a client’s request, Wang said. Folding clothes, for instance, may need to be captured on a bed, beside a sofa, and next to a washing machine.

Busy Hiring

Longyu Big Data has been busy recruiting data collectors since late last year amid burgeoning orders for embodied intelligence data collection, according to General Manager He Ning. Applicants must have graduated from high school and be aged between 18 and 40.

The company’s embodied intelligence data collection team now has around 100 people, with stay-at-home mothers working part-time accounting for nearly 60 percent, He said.

The young mother of two Yicai spoke with said said she is happy with the arrangement. “I can look after my children, earn an income, and enrich my daily life,” she pointed out.

Longyu Big Data’s hiring information shows that the monthly salary for home-based data collectors ranges from CNY3,000 to CNY4,000 (USD442 to USD590).

Wang Yanan said he generally earns CNY6,000 and CNY7,000 a month, though his income can fall to around CNY5,000 when tasks are fewer or harder to complete. Even so, he considers it a good job for a fourth-tier Chinese city.

Many embodied intelligence firms and data collection service providers hire collectors through outsourcing arrangements, according to Wang Huijun, head of Boyue Tech. He expects demand for embodied intelligence data collection to keep growing, just as autonomous-driving data collection once did.

Considering the cost of land, labor, and such like, he believes these jobs will increasingly migrate to third- and fourth-tier cities.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev