Humanoid robots are starting real jobs, but Singapore employers still have time to prepare

Employees may be asked to train the robots

Humanoid AI models learn from video of people doing physical tasks, and robot makers need far more of it than exists. NPR reported in October on workers in India filming tasks such as folding and packing aprons with head-mounted cameras, including one woman paid about US$2.60 an hour. In the U.S., Figure started a marketplace called Index in August that pays people to film themselves doing chores and other jobs. Chief executive Brett Adcock said it had paid out US$15 million so far.

Some factories are now fitting their own staff with cameras, and eWeek reported that some also use the footage to assess productivity. An employer asked by a vendor to record employees for a robot pilot should treat the request as workplace monitoring. Under the Personal Data Protection Act, employers generally need only to notify employees, not obtain consent, when collecting personal data to manage the employment relationship, law firm HSF Kramer notes. Footage recorded to train a vendor’s robots may not fit that purpose, so employers should take legal advice on whether consent is needed. HRD has covered the wider rules on monitoring staff. Employers should also agree in writing who owns the footage, whether employees are paid for it and whether it can be used in performance reviews.

Safety standards are unfinished

A conventional industrial robot arm is bolted down and stops when the power is cut. A humanoid stays upright by constantly adjusting its balance, so a power failure can cause it to fall. ISO 25785-1, the first international safety standard for this kind of robot, is still being drafted. Employers remain responsible for workplace safety risk assessments in the meantime, so safety managers should be involved in any evaluation from the start.