4 ms·

Note how the number advertising how many bots actually use RentAHuman has vanished from their website. Instead we now have the number of bounties. 1/40th as man

Note how the number advertising how many bots actually use RentAHuman has vanished from their website. Instead we now have the number of bounties. 1/40th as many as registered humans. And just scrolling through them, maybe 1/4th of the bounties are not bounties at all but more humans offering services. It's a service that is clearly a lot more appealing to humans than to agents

mycall 9mo ago
It's in chicken-egg mode, where could be useful if more people and bots used it, but not there yet.
- co_king_3 9mo ago
  > [it] could be useful if more people and bots used it That's a very optimistic way of looking at things!
- tinfoilhatter 9mo ago
  Cannot fathom how being slaves for AI agents translates to usefulness.
  - sheikhnbake 9mo ago
    We're acclimating ourselves to the inevitable service to our future AI overlords
  - a4isms 9mo ago
    The term of art for this is becoming a "Reverse Centaur:" A “centaur” is a human being who is assisted by a machine (a human head on a strong and tireless body). A reverse centaur is a machine that uses a human being as its assistant (a frail and vulnerable person being puppeteered by an uncaring, relentless machine). https://doctorow.medium.com/https-pluralistic-net-2025-09-11-vulgar-thatcherism-there-is-an-alternative-f1428b42a8fd https://doctorow.medium.com/https-pluralistic-net-2025-09-11...
    - bell-cot 9mo ago
      What's the term if your car is an old clunker, and you're forever having to tinker to keep it running you around town?
      - mycall 9mo ago
        Sucker?
        bell-cot 9mo ago
        You don't remember this classic? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30878489 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30878489
      - mrguyorama 9mo ago
        Poverty
      - a4isms 9mo ago
        > "Starring in a very funny template joke." Alice joins a group ride. Poseur Patty greets her: "Check out my new top-of-the-line bike! It costs more than my car!!" Alice nods: "Yeah, I have a similar car."
  - co_king_3 9mo ago
    I agree that the deal the site proposes is essentially being a slave to an AI agent.
    - ungreased0675 9mo ago
      Other than the getting paid part. Let’s not trivialize slavery by making it equivalent to gig work.
      - owebmaster 9mo ago
        That's definitely not trivializing. Algorithmic slavery should be a thing and discussed, it's real slavery.
- add-sub-mul-div 9mo ago
  Usually it would be a network effect thing but in this case from reading the article it doesn't even work right (big surprise) and the nature of the tasks are spammy (big surprise). Like a worse mechanical turk minus the determinism of the code.
  - mycall 9mo ago
    I agree. Unless they fix things, this will crash and burn, but the idea still has a future.
DonHopkins 9mo ago
I thought I was chatting with a bot, but it turned out to be a real hot sexy woman! I want my money back.

mycall 9mo ago

It's in chicken-egg mode, where could be useful if more people and bots used it, but not there yet.

co_king_3 9mo ago
> [it] could be useful if more people and bots used it That's a very optimistic way of looking at things!
tinfoilhatter 9mo ago
Cannot fathom how being slaves for AI agents translates to usefulness.
- sheikhnbake 9mo ago
  We're acclimating ourselves to the inevitable service to our future AI overlords
- a4isms 9mo ago
  The term of art for this is becoming a "Reverse Centaur:" A “centaur” is a human being who is assisted by a machine (a human head on a strong and tireless body). A reverse centaur is a machine that uses a human being as its assistant (a frail and vulnerable person being puppeteered by an uncaring, relentless machine). https://doctorow.medium.com/https-pluralistic-net-2025-09-11-vulgar-thatcherism-there-is-an-alternative-f1428b42a8fd https://doctorow.medium.com/https-pluralistic-net-2025-09-11...
  - bell-cot 9mo ago
    What's the term if your car is an old clunker, and you're forever having to tinker to keep it running you around town?
    - mycall 9mo ago
      Sucker?
      - bell-cot 9mo ago
        You don't remember this classic? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30878489 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30878489
    - mrguyorama 9mo ago
      Poverty
    - a4isms 9mo ago
      > "Starring in a very funny template joke." Alice joins a group ride. Poseur Patty greets her: "Check out my new top-of-the-line bike! It costs more than my car!!" Alice nods: "Yeah, I have a similar car."
- co_king_3 9mo ago
  I agree that the deal the site proposes is essentially being a slave to an AI agent.
  - ungreased0675 9mo ago
    Other than the getting paid part. Let’s not trivialize slavery by making it equivalent to gig work.
    - owebmaster 9mo ago
      That's definitely not trivializing. Algorithmic slavery should be a thing and discussed, it's real slavery.
add-sub-mul-div 9mo ago
Usually it would be a network effect thing but in this case from reading the article it doesn't even work right (big surprise) and the nature of the tasks are spammy (big surprise). Like a worse mechanical turk minus the determinism of the code.
- mycall 9mo ago
  I agree. Unless they fix things, this will crash and burn, but the idea still has a future.

DonHopkins 9mo ago

I thought I was chatting with a bot, but it turned out to be a real hot sexy woman! I want my money back.