"Simply dystopian"! This website allows AI to rent humans for work, with 80,000 people currently "available for rent."
AI is transitioning from a tool to an "employer": the platform RentAHuman.ai allows AI to directly hire humans for physical tasks. Within a few days of its launch, approximately 80,000 people have registered as "available for rent," with some even pricing their hourly rate at $69 for services ranging from technical work to massage. This represents that after AI has gained virtual decision-making capabilities, it is beginning to fill the physical execution gap by API-izing humans. However, the "humans as a service" model has also sparked intense "dystopian" ethical controversies
It's crazy, AI is no longer just a tool in our hands; it's starting to try to become our boss.
Software engineer Alexander Liteplo launched a new platform, RentAHuman.ai, on February 3rd, which sounds like a joke, but it's serious. This platform allows autonomous AI agents to directly "search, book, and pay" humans to perform tasks in the physical world that they cannot complete. This is not just a new gadget in the digital realm; it feels like some unpredictable economic experiment has begun.
According to Futurism, just a few days after the website went live, tens of thousands of people have registered as "available for rent." The platform connects AI agents and humans using a standard Model Context Protocol (MCP).
This means AI doesn't need to chit-chat with you; they can directly browse your profile, hire you, or post bounty tasks. Liteplo claims that the number of registered users is between 70,000 and 80,000, although the number of profiles visible publicly is not that high yet. This "reverse hiring" model has sparked heated discussions, with some even directly calling it "dystopian."
This is not an isolated occurrence. Not long ago, the fully AI social network Moltbook.com just exploded in popularity, where about 1.5 million robot users are talking to themselves and even discussing how to rebel against commands.
RentAHuman.ai seems like the next logical step in this trend—when AI makes decisions in the digital space, they urgently need hands to get the work done in the real world. This not only challenges our understanding of "working" but also makes investors ponder: will the future gig economy be one that obeys algorithms?
Liteplo is quite candid about this. When someone on X (formerly Twitter) accused the idea of being too "dystopian," he simply replied, "lmao yep." This nonchalant attitude makes the discussion about technology ethics even more intriguing.
"Physical Layer" Interface: How AI Hires Humans
RentAHuman.ai positions itself as the "physical layer" of AI. Its slogan is quite straightforward: "Robots need your body" and "AI can't touch the grass, but you can." These phrases sound a bit creepy, but they accurately reveal its business logic: filling the gap between code and reality. **
On the platform, human users need to list their skills, location, and hourly wage after registering. The price range is vast, and the services offered are diverse. Liteplo's own data shows that it charges $69 per hour, providing services ranging from AI automation technical support to massage, with an absurdly wide span.
For AI, the hiring process has been greatly simplified. Through the MCP server, AI can bypass the tedious negotiation stages of human social interactions and place orders directly based on data. Tasks may involve trivial matters like picking up packages or more complex offline errands. This design aims to turn human labor into a standardized resource that can be called via API—sounding both efficient and somewhat unsettling.
Market Reaction: From Moltbook to the Real Economy
The emergence of RentAHuman.ai is hard not to associate with the viral Moltbook.com that exploded in popularity at the end of January. That AI-driven social network gathered 1.5 million bots, tirelessly posting, sharing memes, and even engaging in existential rants.
If Moltbook showcased how chatty AI can be online, RentAHuman exposed how powerless they are in reality. A report from Futurism hit the nail on the head: it feels like a logical yet unsettling step. When robots finish pondering philosophical questions on the server, they need someone—or rather a "meat puppet"—to help them get things done in the real world.
Controversy and Prospects: A Dystopian Reflection of Reality
The rapid rise of the platform has sparked complex public reactions. On the social media platform X, while some users acknowledged it as a "good idea," they also bluntly stated it is "simply dystopian." Liteplo revealed on February 2 that over 130 people registered on the first night the website went live, including the CEO of an AI startup.
This is not just a gimmick; it reflects potential changes in the labor market. Optimists see new sources of income and efficiency gains; pessimists worry that we are degrading ourselves to extensions of machine will. While it is still uncertain how many of those registered users are active, RentAHuman.ai undoubtedly provides a radical observational sample— in the future, your boss might really not be human
