What if you spent years of your life working exhausting shifts in a factory, only to realize that every movement you make is being recorded to train an AI system that could eventually replace you?
That fear is no longer hypothetical.
Various factories, warehouses, and other industrial spaces in India today are reportedly making workers wear head-mounted cameras to record their work as data to train AI systems meant to replace them in the near future.
The Story Behind This
Recently, videos showing Indian workers working in factories with head-mounted cameras have come to the limelight on social media, raising questions about the future of AI in workplaces.
As per Scroll’s investigation, one such video belonged to a unit of Pearl Global Industries Limited, located in Gurugram. Reportedly, this factory has a presence in ten countries. When asked whether the workers knew what the head-mounted cameras were for, one worker replied, “We were supposed to wear the device from 10 am to 4 pm.”
The worker explained, “They [the executives] said that they wanted to find out what we were doing during our shifts and for how much time.” This explanation suggests that these workers are not fully aware that they are actually contributing data that might eventually lead to their replacement.
The data being collected is known as egocentric or first-person data, used to train artificial intelligence systems to understand how humans work. As per a report by The Indian Express, for every hour spent by a worker wearing these cameras, they are reportedly being paid somewhere between Rs 250 and Rs 350 per hour.
Similar data-collection activities have also been reported across various other cities in India. One example is the factories of Ken India, a textile factory located in Ichalkaranji, Maharashtra. A LinkedIn post by Ken India stated, “The textile industry is evolving — and KEN INDIA is choosing to lead that evolution. This week, we conducted a live AI pilot in collaboration with egolab.ai, deploying intelligent hardware on our shop floor to capture real-time production insights.”
The post further explained that this hardware is aimed at ensuring “data-driven decisions, measurable efficiency, and operational transparency are the pillars of next-generation manufacturing.”
Egolab.AI, as it calls itself, is “India’s largest first-person POV Data Aggregator,” founded in January 2026 by two Maharashtrian teenagers. As per the company, it aids in collecting “high-quality, labour-sourced egocentric video footage” from workers using “lightweight cameras.”
According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, technological transformation driven by AI, robotics, and automation is expected to change the nature of work globally by 2030. The report, based on 1,000 leading global employers representing over 14 million workers across 55 economies, highlights that 22 per cent of current jobs will experience disruption due to technological and economic changes.
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The Workers Behind This
Numbers aside, the main concern that arises from all this is whether these workers really understand what they are volunteering for. A deeper investigation found that most of the workers wearing these devices did not know what they had signed up for. According to Scroll, this data-collection process requires somewhere between 100 and 1,000 volunteers from factories.
During Scroll’s interaction with the volunteers at Pearl Global, it was found that the consent of these workers was not obtained in any formal way. The head of business operations at Egolab, Arnav Kabra, dismissed questions in this regard, simply stating, “We took consent to use the device, and we did it in our own way.”
As attempts at AI automation become a rapidly growing phenomenon, the ones most affected by this change are low-skilled industrial workers. Given their minimal pay and extensive workload, such changes are likely to render them helpless.
A 2026 report by the Boston Consulting Group further pointed out that in the next two to three years, about 50-55 per cent of jobs will be reshaped by Artificial Intelligence.
At the Pearl Global factory, most workers hailed from villages and small towns in either Bihar or West Bengal, identifying themselves as either Muslim, Dalit, or from other backward communities. Explaining the experiment, one worker said, “It had batteries near our temples, and as they heated up, we felt uncomfortable. It felt like it was sucking our blood.”
Highlighting privacy concerns, another worker explained, “We had to take it out before going to the toilet. Moreover, we couldn’t speak to our spouses while wearing it. It could listen to our conversations. Nor could we wander around or enjoy gutkha. Sometimes I would switch off the device myself.”
The most troubling part of all this is that the workers contributing to the evolution of an entire system are the ones who are least protected by it. Being from rural regions, most of these individuals are not equipped with the knowledge of fast-moving technology.
Naturally, the question arising out of this is whether the consent of workers who are not educated enough to fully understand how their personal data is being used to train AI models can truly be considered informed consent.
At the end of the day, while the world evolves in the name of progress, what remains behind are the people who were never given the opportunity to understand the depth of this evolution. In a situation like this, the least that can be done for them is to ensure fair compensation and stronger protections that help cushion the impact this rapidly evolving world may create for them.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: Scroll, The Indian Express, CNN
Find the blogger: @shubhangichoudhary_29
This post is tagged under: AI Workers, Artificial Intelligence, AI Automation, India News, Labour Rights, Factory Workers, AI Ethics, Workplace Surveillance, Technology News, Future of Jobs, Automation, Egocentric Data, Manufacturing Industry, Privacy Concerns, Workers Rights, AI Training Data, Industrial Automation, Scroll Investigation, Tech Policy, Employment Trends
Disclaimer: We do not own any rights or copyrights to the images used; these images have been sourced from Google. If you require credits or wish to request removal, please contact us via email.
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