One of the biggest fears stemming from the advent of automated labor is the termination of human labor, and Waymo and their robotaxis are at the forefront of that shift. However, Waymo, particularly in Georgia, somehow still generated jobs for some people, especially DoorDashers. That’s because Waymo passengers are apparently opting to leave the car doors open after leaving, so now Waymo needs DoorDashers to close the doors for a fee.
The testimony originally came from Reddit user MarzipanPristine8104, also a DoorDash driver. On Tuesday, the DoorDasher shared the most peculiar request he ever received on the platform in Atlanta, Georgia: for $6.25 and an additional $5, he merely had to close a Waymo car’s doors. It was also rather close by at only 0.7 miles, which is just a few minutes of driving.
The DoorDasher allegedly agreed and bagged his $11.25 for just a few minutes of driving and door closing. Since then, his testimony has gone viral. It’s not clear why some passengers would do this, but Waymo has been in the crosshairs of pedestrian hate for some time now. In San Francisco alone, a crowd even took their anger out on a Waymo car for merely wanting to pass through. Meanwhile, both Waymo and DoorDash have confirmed that their joint venture in closing robotaxi doors is indeed legitimate.
People online are wondering about this new dynamic
“Waymo is currently running a pilot program in Atlanta to enhance its AV fleet efficiency. In the rare event a vehicle door is left ajar, preventing the car from departing, nearby Dashers are notified, allowing Waymo to get its vehicles back on the road quickly,” according to Waymo and DoorDash, transcript courtesy of TechCrunch.
People online have since pointed out how easily this system can be abused. As one X user commented, “Take a short ride. Leave the door open. ??? profit,” though it’s possible for Waymo to catch on if this becomes a regular practice, since it seems lucrative enough for some, “$11.25 to close a door? That’s Waymo than I expected.”
Others have questioned who exactly should shoulder this negligence fee, “Instead of paying to close their doors they should charge an expensive fee for leaving it opened with a big warning before a user gets in every ride..” A company built on labor automation likely could come up with an automated solution, “Automatic doors would literally solve this issue there’s no way a retrofit on these vehicles is more expensive than wasting money on door dashes 😂.”
Regardless, the new Waymo job for DoorDashers highlighted just how ridiculous the issue has become for the automated robotaxi service. Whether customers are really leaving doors open out of spite or negligence is an ongoing debate, but certain X users have blamed the US culture and attitude towards automation, “Waymos work much better in places like Japan and Singapore. Much less well in places like Atlanta. I will not elaborate further.”
