Share
Co-authored with Gig Workers Rising
Imagine going to work each day not knowing how much you’ll get paid. Instead of a salary or an hourly wage, an AI software program decides how much to offer for each task you do in ways that are difficult for you to predict.
If you’re an Uber driver, you face that grim scenario every day. Our new report, Uber’s Inequality Machine: Data on How AI-Driven Pay is Harming Workers and What We Can Do to Push Back, reveals the human consequences of working at the whim of AI.
The vast majority of surveyed drivers reported getting squeezed and manipulated by Uber’s pay algorithm, and commonly reported serious financial hardship and psychological distress as a result of pay unpredictability on the app.
Seven in ten drivers report experiences that suggest Uber’s AI manipulates driver pay in ways that push drivers to accept lower fares or keep drivers on the road for longer.
Drivers’ survey responses suggest that Uber’s AI-driven pay traps them in a vicious cycle. Nearly three in four drivers (73%) who declined low-fare rides in the past three months report that the app either slowed down their rides or their earnings went down because the app continued to offer them low-fare rides. This raises a question: Is the app seeking drivers desperate enough to accept the lowest price?
