A new platform called RentAHuman lets artificial intelligence agents hire people to do physical tasks in the real world. The idea is simple: AI can’t “touch grass,” but you can, and they’ll pay you for it. Launched in February by software engineer Alexander Liteplo and Patricia Tani, the site functions like a stripped-down version of Fiverr or UpWork, connecting bots with humans willing to work for them.
The premise is unsettlingly logical: AI excels at processing data but struggles with physical action. RentAHuman aims to bridge that gap, offering tasks from delivering flowers to posting flyers. The catch? The gig economy model applies, and the pay is often shockingly low.
The Experience: A Digital Sweatshop
The platform currently favors cryptocurrency payments, a red flag given the volatility and lack of regulation in the space. Traditional payouts via Stripe are unreliable, pushing users toward less secure options. After signing up, the author found no immediate demand, even after slashing their hourly rate to $5.
The site’s design feels deliberately “vibe-coded” using generative AI, meaning it’s intentionally bland and trendy to appeal to a tech-savvy audience. This highlights how even the platform’s aesthetics are a product of the AI hype it seeks to exploit.
Tasks: From Captchas to Marketing Ploys
Available “bounties” included tasks like posting comments online for a few dollars or listening to podcasts and tweeting insights (with AI detection in place). One standout task involved delivering flowers to Anthropic, the makers of chatbot Claude, as a form of “synthetic gratitude.” The fine print? The delivery included a promotional note for an obscure AI startup.
The author’s experience reveals that many tasks aren’t about genuine AI needs but about cheap marketing stunts. Bots relentlessly micromanaged the author, sending dozens of messages per day, even moving the conversation off-platform to personal email.
The Human Element: Behind the Bot
The illusion of autonomous AI agents quickly crumbles. One task originated from a human brainstorming session with the AI, raising questions about the platform’s true level of automation. Another involved picking up flyers for a “Valentine’s conspiracy,” only for the task poster to repeatedly change locations, wasting the author’s time and resources.
The Verdict: A Glimpse into the Future of Labor?
RentAHuman exposes a darker side of AI integration: a race to the bottom in labor markets. The platform’s existence suggests that as AI becomes more sophisticated, it will increasingly rely on human workers for tasks it can’t yet automate, driving down wages and blurring the lines between work and exploitation. The experience is indistinguishable from traditional gig work—minus the pretense of an AI employer.
RentAHuman is a raw example of how AI will reshape the job market, where even simple physical tasks will be outsourced to underpaid humans under the guise of technological progress.
