[Kapura]

I think it's important to note that these things don't take jobs from humans; they dislocate the jobs from expensive humans where the vehicles operate to less expensive humans with an internet connection in the global south. This is literally outsourcing physical labour overseas.

[SwellJoe]

I work on delivery robots (not like the ones discussed in the article, they operate in privately owned buildings, not on public streets) and I can assure you the company I work for employs no human drivers overseas, or anywhere else. Of course, the robots have teleoperation capabilities, for demos and testing, but no good way to actually complete deliveries with a human driving. Our teleops feature is literally just a PlayStation controller or clicking arrows in a web app. It's just not a thing we ever developed or considered developing, and not an expense that I think could be justified. The robots I work on operate fully autonomously, so why waste human time on routine deliveries?

I don't know anything about the delivery robots roaming the streets and discussed in this article, but it's possible to build fully autonomous delivery robots. I guess in a robot like these, one might have to have more human monitoring, since they could get stolen or damaged, block traffic or prevent wheelchair users from using curb cuts, etc. But, if any of them are outsourcing the actual routine driving and delivery to people, even people in low-pay locations, they'll eventually be beaten by someone who isn't. There's no reason for a human to be driving robots at this point.

[kaonwarb]

That will apply to only a smaller percentage, even in early days. It's very typical for one human operator to remotely oversee many robots.

[Kapura]

so, many jobs in a high paying country are being replaced by a single employee overseas. Do you see how this is not a better outcome?