"An Amazon delivery driver, today's route took his small cargo van through the wooded hills of Big Bear Lake, the rural outskirts of San Bernardino, California. There was just one caveat: his deliveries were bringing him dangerously close to the maw of a raging wildfire. Assessing his itinerary on the Amazon Flex app as smoke billowed around him, Johnny realized that his entire delivery route was ablaze."
"If he refused, Johnny knew he could face repercussions: being forced to undergo training on his own time, having his hours cut, or even losing his job altogether. The suite of software on his phone - made up of the Amazon Flex app, eDriving Mentor app, and the DSP Workplace app - combined with the van's onboard sensors, routing software, and AI-powered cameras, constantly monitor his work, alerting Amazon to any deviation that might require correction."
"Yet when it comes to reporting safety violations, hazards, or routing errors like the one bringing him into harm's way, the tech panopticon surrounding the nearly 400,000 drivers like Johnny fall decidedly flat, like when he was urged back into the path of the blazing wildfire. The issue of Amazon driver surveillance and worker welfare was the subject of a lengthy investigation by the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR), a research group led by former Google ethicist Timnit Gebru."
Amazon delivery drivers face intense algorithmic monitoring from apps, vehicle sensors, routing software, and AI cameras that log deviations and prompt automated alerts. Drivers report being directed to continue deliveries through active hazards, including wildfires, with limited ability to refuse without risking punitive actions such as mandatory unpaid training, reduced hours, or job loss. Safety reporting systems are ineffective, and surveillance tools prioritize productivity over worker safety. The Distributed AI Research Institute conducted interviews with delivery drivers nationwide to examine how algorithmic management and workplace surveillance enable exploitation and undermine driver welfare.
Read at Futurism
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]