Do you recall the hype surrounding the smart home gadgets during the COVID-induced lockdown phase? Guess what happens when that hype is clubbed with the one for AI models – it creates a powerful sentry that can catch dishonest househelps! A Bengaluru-based Indian techie has sparked widespread online discussion after sharing how he used a custom AI-powered camera system to detect his cook stealing fruits from his refrigerator, ultimately leading to firing her from the job.
Pankaj, known on X (formerly Twitter) as @the2ndfloorguy and a former AI labs engineer at InMobi, detailed the project in a viral post. He explained how his “AI roommate,” i.e., a compact camera perched atop an AO Smith water purifier, monitors the kitchen during cooking sessions. Powered by Anthropic’s Claude Haiku 4.5 vision model, the system pings him instantly if it detects unauthorised items being taken, while also tracking hygiene practices like hand washing before cooking and slab cleaning afterward.
Claude AI makes home surveillance truly smart
His AI roommate also generates weekly reports for review. “I caught her twice this week. Just fired her,” he wrote, noting that he plans to enhance it with gas detection and idle time tracking for further efficiency. The setup runs face detection locally to blur identities before processing with the LLM, ensuring some privacy measures.
Pankaj mentioned transitioning to a fully offline local model on a Raspberry Pi mini computer soon. Photos in the post show the white camera overlooking the kitchen counter, wired neatly to a power outlet.
This isn’t Pankaj’s first foray into home AI automation. In a quoted earlier post, he described a similar system that adjusts his bedroom fan based on sleep positions detected via camera — turning it on if limbs stick out (indicating heat) or off if curled up (indicating cold) — using a remote button pusher for physical control.
Internet goes crazy with reactions
The post drew a mix of admiration, humour, and criticism from the tech community. Some users celebrated the ingenuity, with one stating, “Give it audio and next time AI talks to her like ‘wash your hands, I will deduct 50 rupees for the apples’,” suggested @mhrnik, to which Pankaj responded enthusiastically, “omg such a cool idea. on it.”
Others proposed alerts like a “fahhhh” sound for theft.
However, ethical questions arose quickly. “Why not offer her some food have you thought about that,” commented @siddhahahahant, prompting Pankaj to clarify, “I confronted her twice before setting this up. After 2 weeks she was back to same thing. I’m ok she taking food with my permission but stealing is a no.”
Privacy concerns were also raised, “Does your cook know that she’s being monitored?” asked @MusaleChinmay, with Pankaj affirming, “Of course, having a kitchen camera is pretty normal in my society.”
Supporters like @shahmohitm praised the experimentation: “I love how you are experimenting with various projects one by one.. Keep it up ,” while jokingly suggesting tracking “perfect round roti” counts.