This article was written by Alex Rosenblat in the New York Times Opinion<\/a>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/em>There are nearly a million active Uber drivers in the United States and Canada, and none of them have human supervisors. It\u2019s better than having a real boss, one driver in the Boston area told me.,\u201dexcept when something goes wrong.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n When something does go wrong, Uber drivers can\u2019t tell the boss or a co-worker. They can call or write to \u201ccommunity support,\u201d but the results can be enraging. Cecily McCall, an African-American driver from Pompano Beach, Fla., told me that a passenger once called her \u201cdumb\u201d and \u201cstupid,\u201d using a racial epithet, so she ended the trip early. She wrote to a support rep to explain why and got what seemed like a robotic response: \u201cWe\u2019re sorry to hear about this. We appreciate you taking the time to contact us and share details.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n The rep offered not to match her with that same passenger again. Disgusted, Ms. McCall wrote back, \u201cSo that means the next person that picks him up he will do the same while the driver gets deactivated\u201d\u200a\u2014\u200afired by the algorithm\u200a\u2014\u200abecause of a low rating or complaint from an angry passenger. \u201cWelcome to America.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Over the past four years, I have traveled more than 5,000 miles in more than 25 cities, interviewing 125 drivers for Uber and other ride-hailing apps, as well as taxi drivers, and observing hundreds more. And I have spent countless hours in Facebook groups and other online forums for drivers, which collectively have 300,000 members, to better understand their experiences. I have learned that drivers at ride-hailing companies may have the freedom and flexibility of gig economy work, but they are still at the mercy of a boss\u200a\u2014\u200aan algorithmic boss.<\/span><\/p>\n Data and algorithms are presented as objective, neutral, even benevolent: Algorithms gave us super-convenient food delivery services and personalized movie recommendations. But Uber and other ride-hailing apps have taken the way Silicon Valley uses algorithms and applied it to work, and that\u2019s not always a good thing.<\/span><\/p>\n The algorithmic manager seems to watch everything you do. Ride-hailing platforms track a variety of personalized statistics, including ride acceptance rates, cancellation rates, hours spent logged in to the app and trips completed. And they display selected statistics to individual drivers as motivating tools, like \u201cYou\u2019re in the top 10 percent of partners!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n To read the rest of the article, click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Go to Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![](\"https:\/\/cdn-images-1.medium.com\/max\/1200\/1*XwNiv9UCYlGk-qOjf2da7g.jpeg?profile=RESIZE_710x\")
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