Posted on 01/22/2025 11:43:19 AM PST by BenLurkin
This week gig workers, trade unions and human rights groups launched a campaign for greater openness from Uber Eats, Just Eat and Deliveroo about the logic underpinning opaque algorithms that determine what work they do and what they are paid.
The couriers wonder why someone who has only just logged on gets a gig while others waiting longer are overlooked. Why, when the restaurant is busy and crying out for couriers, does the app say there are none available?
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Dumb question:
Isn’t it all about ratings?
If a buyer seeks a delivery but specifies that only 5 star delivery guys will that return that there are no one available if there are no 5 stars available?
I didn’t read the whole story but I think this has something to do with DEI. Something very Big Brother about it.
No.
It is all about programming.
And who got the biggest bribe.
Prediction: AI will be the best scapegoat ever.
If you don’t get your package on time, it’s the AI’s fault. Didn’t make your numbers this quarter, I was following the AI’s plan.
Better than the dog ate my homework.
>>If you don’t get your package on time, it’s the AI’s fault. Didn’t make your numbers this quarter, I was following the AI’s plan.
To err is human. To blame it on a computer is even more so.
“The couriers wonder why someone who has only just logged on gets a gig while others waiting longer are overlooked.”
Because they’re trying to make sure the NEW couriers stick it out. If they signed up and didn’t get any work for 2 nights, they’d quit.
“Why, when the restaurant is busy and crying out for couriers, does the app say there are none available?”
On THIS one I’m more skeptical. I believe it’s probably something to do with what is in essence kickbacks. When a restaurant signs up, they agree to pay a certain amount back to the company. Say a burger costs $8 in the restaurant, the delivery company marks it up to $10, AND! They pay the restaurant MAYBE $7.
I’m not sure if that’s negotiated, but I can see how a restaurant that fought to pay LESS could be looked over. To try to impress upon them that they have to pay more.
I was expecting a package from FedEx this week. It was a box of tools I had been using while on a work trip that I had shipped home. They were in a plastic bin that was securely locked closed.
When it didn’t arrive as scheduled, I filed a claim with FedEx.
Last night it showed up in a completely different plastic bin. They must have destroyed the bin I had it packed in. They did a great job repacking the tools into a new, far stronger and more expensive bin.
To say I’m impressed in an understatement.
No scapegoating AI here. Instead, I’m commending the human element.
So nice to hear some good news.
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