Questions to ask before anyone records the work.
Use this checklist before agreeing to a skilled-trade or physical-AI capture program. A legitimate program should be able to answer these questions clearly and put the important terms in writing.
Why is this task being recorded?
Ask for a plain-language explanation of the program, the defined buyer or intended recipient, the task being represented, and the outcome the recording is expected to support.
- What exact task or decision is the program trying to understand?
- Is the material for training, evaluation, testing, research, deployment preparation, or another stated purpose?
- Who is funding the program and who will receive the accepted material?
What will be captured?
Confirm the signals, equipment, location, schedule, expected repetitions, and whether identifying or confidential information may appear.
- Are video, audio, tool state, equipment signals, location, or written notes included?
- Will my face, voice, name, employer, customer, or worksite be identifiable?
- How will bystanders, screens, labels, addresses, and proprietary processes be excluded or protected?
Who controls the work and the site?
Capture should operate inside the trade company's supervision and the site's safety requirements. Recording equipment and production goals should not introduce unmanaged risk.
- Who is the on-site supervisor and who can stop the session?
- What hazards, protective equipment, insurance, and emergency procedures apply?
- What happens if conditions change or the requested demonstration feels unsafe?
What am I authorizing?
Read the practical effect of the consent and program terms. Do not assume that agreeing to be recorded answers every question about ownership or downstream use.
- Who owns the raw recordings and accepted delivery?
- What license or permission am I granting, for how long, and to whom?
- Can the material be reused, sublicensed, published, marketed, or transferred?
- What can I stop, withdraw, correct, or ask to have deleted—and when?
How and when will I be paid?
Compensation may depend on the employment relationship and program structure. It should be settled before participation rather than inferred from an informal invitation.
- Who pays me: my employer, SkilledMotion, the buyer, or another party?
- Is compensation hourly, daily, task-based, or included in normal employment pay?
- Are preparation, travel, equipment, review time, overtime, cancellation, and recapture covered?
- Does payment change any ownership, confidentiality, or permitted-use terms?
Who decides whether the work is correct?
The program should include both technical and qualified trade review. Ask how disagreements, incomplete takes, unsafe examples, and corrections are recorded.
- Who performs the trade-level review?
- Can I clarify or correct how my actions are described?
- What happens to rejected takes and material that falls outside the approved scope?
What happens when the session ends?
Understand the path from raw capture through review, storage, delivery, retention, and deletion. Keep a copy of the terms and the contact for future questions.
- Where is the material stored, who can access it, and how is it transferred?
- How long are raw, accepted, rejected, consent, and backup records kept?
- Who do I contact about payment, privacy, safety, correction, or later use?
Pause when the answers stay vague.
Be cautious if the purpose keeps changing, the buyer or recipient is hidden, recording starts before terms are explained, safety objections are minimized, compensation is unclear, consent is treated as unlimited, or you are pressured not to ask questions. A professional program should withstand informed scrutiny.