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Kicker: Man’s best machine

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WORLD Radio - Kicker: Man’s best machine

A San Francisco startup is paying $20 an hour for people to walk four-legged robot dogs around town, with no experience needed and no waste bags required, though a breakdown means lugging all 33 pounds back to the office.


A K9-X robot dog Getty Images / Photo by Alfredo Lopez / Jam Media

Editor's note: The following text is a transcript of a podcast story. To listen to the story, click on the arrow beneath the headline above.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: A San Francisco startup is looking to hire dog walkers. Twenty bucks an hour. No experience necessary.

And no need to carry around waste bags to clean up after them!

The reason is the dogs aren’t actual dogs. They’re robot dogs.

The company needs people to walk these four-legged machines around town to collect data so they’ll eventually navigate on their own.

The downside: If the programmable pooch breaks down, the walker has to carry all thirty-three pounds back to the office.

So far, these digital dogs have mastered one real canine trick: getting humans to work for them.

It’s The World and Everything in It.


WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.

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