DoorDash Is Proof of How Easy It Is to Exploit Workers When Their Boss Is an Algorithm

[Eugene]

Source: Gizmodo

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

DoorDash Is Proof of How Easy It Is to Exploit Workers When Their Boss Is an Algorithm

Brian Merchant
Yesterday 1:00pm Filed to: AUTOMATON

We’re getting quite used to our algorithmic overlords. We’ve ceded, for the most part, that complex and invisible rulesets determine who will see our missives, travel pics, and RT dunks. More substantially, millions of workers now toil, essentially, for algorithms, whether via Uber, Lyft, Postmates, or the like. And the DoorDash tipping fiasco that unfolded this week highlights how increasingly dangerous this is—both in terms of the worker exploitation that nebulous algorithmic employment allowed for in the first place, and in the fractious and sometimes surprising nature of the fallout.

When DoorDash, which, with 400,000 contract workers is the largest on-demand food delivery service in the nation, faced fresh criticism over its deceptive tipping policies—the app used tips from consumers to pay out the minimum delivery fee it promised its gig workers, called ‘Dashers’, instead of letting them keep the whole tip themselves, essentially putting the tip directly in DoorDash’s coffers—it finally capitulated. After six months of refusing to do so, CEO Tony Xu announced on Twitter he’d be changing the policy.

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But infighting on internet forums is what’s prone to happen when your manager is an algorithm—there’s no sense in arguing with a set of instructions encoded in software, after all. It may be uncharitable, but if you felt like you, personally, had finally mastered the rules, lashing out at those who spoiled the game at least makes a certain kind of sense. The only means a lot of gig workers have to register grievances are ineffectual customer support email addresses—which often connect them to equally poorly paid representatives around the world—and each other.

The company, after all, typically only gets in touch via the app, and only with automated boilerplate. “In lieu of clear and direct communications from companies, many gig workers turn to online forums and groups, looking for others who might have more information and banding together to trade documents and tips to ensure they are receiving what they have been promised,” Johana Bhuiyan wrote for the LA Times. “The asymmetry in information, fragmented nature of the workforce and fear of retaliation make it possible for companies like DoorDash and Amazon to implement questionable labor practices like these, often without significant pushback.”

Now, there are a lot of workers, from Uber drivers to Dashers, who are organizing for change. Groups like Gig Workers Rising are gaining steam. But the blowback on Dasher forums highlights the steepness of their challenge: By imparting the rules and expectations of the job onto a faceless algorithm—rules that govern pickup rates, bonus terms, and payscale, and rules that are always wildly in flux—on-demand app companies have fundamentally altered how workers perceive and engage with the authorities that manage them.

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Read more: https://gizmodo.com/doordash-is-proof-of-how-easy-it-is-to-exploit-workers-1836729119

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Related: DoorDash Says It’s Very Sorry You Noticed Its Tip-Skimming Scheme (Gizmodo)

[Sherman A1]

1. Their Boss

The real human one(s) need be arrested and charged with theft. They are simply common criminals.

[customerserviceguy]

2. DoorDash, Uber, Lyft, etc.

Their business model is "Burn yourself out, run your car into the ground, and eventually, we'll replace you with a robot."