Indian factory workers seen wearing head-mounted cameras, sparking fears of AI replacement

New Delhi. While the rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is causing anxiety among white-collar workers worldwide, the jobs of manual laborers are now also under threat. Recent viral videos on social media have ignited a new debate, suggesting that workers are being prepared to facilitate their own job losses.

In particular, a video of workers at a garment factory in India has become a topic of discussion on the internet. In the footage, workers operating sewing machines are seen wearing head-mounted cameras.

Although no news organization has officially confirmed this, theories circulating online suggest that companies are recording the hand movements and work styles of these laborers. The primary purpose of this footage is reportedly to train AI-based robots that will eventually replace these very workers.

On the social media platform X, one user sarcastically remarked, 'Phase one: make humans work like robots; phase two: make humans teach robots how to do the work; and phase three: fire all humans and let the robots take over.' Some have even commented that the workers are effectively digging their own graves.

According to India Today, these cameras capture exactly what the worker sees. This includes hand movements, work coordination, and task execution methods. Instead of using expensive motion-capture technology, companies are attempting to teach robots complex tasks by using data obtained from the human worker's perspective.

This has not only increased concerns about large-scale job losses but has also raised serious ethical questions. Critics argue that many workers are unaware that the work they are currently performing will ultimately lead to their own unemployment.