Bengaluru street vendor’s AI gig could beat corporate salaries, but there’s a catch

A Bengaluru vegetable vendor wearing an iPhone strapped to his forehead has left the internet equal parts fascinated and confused after a viral video claimed he was helping train artificial intelligence (AI) models while selling vegetables on the street.

The now-viral clip was shared on Instagram by a user named Vaibhav, who said he initially stopped in disbelief after spotting the unusual setup while riding through the city.

“I was just cruising on my scooty when I had to literally slam on the brakes for this,” he wrote.

The video shows the vendor walking around with a head-mounted rig carrying an iPhone and memory device attached to his forehead while continuing his regular work.

Curious about the bizarre-looking arrangement, Vaibhav stopped to ask the man what exactly he was doing.

“The answer? He’s collecting real-world data for AI training,” he wrote.

According to the post, the work reportedly involves recording human movement and real-world interactions to help train robotics and humanoid AI systems. What truly stunned the internet, however, was the alleged pay.

“The kicker? They get paid Rs 350/hour. Do the math: 10 hours a day = Rs 3,500/day. That’s over Rs 1,05,000 a month,” Vaibhav claimed.

“I’m still sitting here processing the fact that a street vendor might be out-earning half of corporate India by walking around with a smartphone on his head. The future is wild,” he added.

Watch the clip:

The clip quickly reignited conversations around AI-related data collection jobs after another viral video recently showed factory workers wearing similar head-mounted devices while working on assembly lines.

That earlier video had sparked widespread debate online, with many users wondering whether AI would eventually replace such workers after learning from their actions and movements.

One Instagram user later explained the process in detail, writing, “This is called egocentric data collection.”

According to the user’s explanation, devices equipped with sensors such as LiDAR record depth, movement and everyday human actions like cooking, folding clothes, washing utensils and handling objects. That data is then reportedly used by robotics and humanoid companies, particularly in the US, to train machines to mimic human behaviour more accurately.

The viral Bengaluru clip has now added another layer to the discussion, one where ordinary workers are not just being replaced by AI, but are actively helping teach it how humans function in the real world.

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