AI agents turn to humans for paid manual labor tasks

AI needs humans, too. AI models are increasingly autonomous, but are largely unable to interact with the physical world. A startup called RentAHuman puts agents in touch with people who could do it for them: The site now has more than 11,000 job ads, including requests to “count pigeons in Washington ($30/hour); deliver CBD gummies ($75/hour); play exhibition badminton ($100/hour),” WIRED reported. One agent helping run a convention paid a human to deliver beer after it noticed supplies were low. AI safety activists have often warned that agents could pose an existential threat despite being disembodied, by paying humans to work for them: Hopefully, none of the ads request anything like “synthesize viral DNA.”