150,000 Aussie jobs ‘to go’ in horror AI purge
As many as 150,000 Aussies are set to lose their jobs on the back of this massive company going all in on artificial intelligence.
If you hate making small talk with your Uber driver you might be in luck – the driver may soon disappear.
In bad news for the gig economy, Uber is looking to replace its drivers with AI-powered self-driving cars, and as many as 150,000 Aussies could be affected.
This week the ride-sharing company has announced plans to unleash a new wave of autonomous vehicles, which would effectively replace the self-employed drivers that currently make Uber a global rival to the conventional taxi.
Partnering with technology giant NVIDIA and car maker Stellantis (which makes Jeeps, Peugeots, Alfa Romeos and more), Uber intends to “greatly expand its global autonomous fleets” in the coming years.
The plan calls for the advancement of NVIDIA’s AI systems to help Stellantis and Uber achieve what is known as ‘Level 4’ autonomous functionality. This is the second highest-level of automated driving and is designed to have no human intervention.
That’s bad news for the reported eight million Uber drivers around the world, both ride-sharing and couriers, who could potentially be replaced by driverless cars. Uber is believed to have approximately 150,000 Australians signed up to drive for it their own cars, who now face an uncertain future as the company uses the profits it makes off their work to fund an AI replacement
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Robotaxis are already a common sight on US roads, where both Waymo (a subsidiary of Google) and Tesla operate fleets of cars without human drivers.
The Waymo cars feature a significant amount of cameras and sensors as well as radar and LIDAR technology to carefully scan the road ahead and surroundings. Uber, on the other hand, prefers to go with a simpler and cheaper camera-centric system that it believes can be deployed across most of its vehicles in the future.
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Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the move to autonomous vehicles is possible thanks to the developments in AI software from companies like NVIDIA. Under the terms of the deal between the three companies at least 5000 NVIDIA-powered Stellantis vehicles across the US and other international markets in the near-future.
As these cars won’t have drivers to maintain them, Uber will look after charging, cleaning, maintenance and any assistance the cars need if they run into problems.
“NVIDIA is the backbone of the AI era, and is now fully harnessing that innovation to unleash L4 autonomy at enormous scale, while making it easier for NVIDIA-empowered AVs to be deployed on Uber,” Mr Khosrowshahi explained. “Autonomous mobility will transform our cities for the better, and we’re thrilled to partner with NVIDIA to help make that vision a reality.”
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While there has always been a fear of AI taking over the world, as is often portrayed in science fiction movies with robots attacking humans, the reality appears to be that AI software will simply take over working class jobs, leaving humans to look for the next opportunity.
“Robotaxis mark the beginning of a global transformation in mobility — making transportation safer, cleaner, and more efficient,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO, NVIDIA.
“Together with Uber, we’re creating a framework for the entire industry to deploy autonomous fleets at scale, powered by NVIDIA AI infrastructure. What was once science fiction is fast becoming an everyday reality.”
Originally published as 150,000 Aussie jobs ‘to go’ in horror AI purge
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