Gig Workers Fight AI's "Black Box" Pay Cuts

Gig economy workers are seeking academic assistance to understand the complex algorithms that influence their earnings and job assignments. Riders in Edinburgh, for instance, have observed a decline in pay and working conditions coinciding with heightened automation by major UK and Ireland platforms like Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat.

Xabier Villares, an organizer with the Workers' Observatory, noted a dramatic shift over the past three years, making a decent living from riding no longer feasible. The observatory, now funded for a decade, investigates algorithmic pay variability, a practice unions are campaigning to ban due to income uncertainty.

Research from Oxford and Columbia Business School indicated Uber drivers earned substantially less per hour after a dynamic pricing algorithm was introduced in 2023. This year, drivers launched a class-action lawsuit in Amsterdam against a ride-hailing app, alleging its AI system breaches data protection laws and suppresses wages. Deliveroo rider Dylan's records show a steady decline in average fee per order, from £3.67 in 2023 to £3.42 by mid-2026, despite consistent order delivery rates.

Cailean Gallagher of St. Andrews University highlighted the platforms' "concealed" knowledge infrastructure, leaving riders "working in the dark." The Workers' Observatory conducts experiments to understand these systems. Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat maintain their riders earn above the national living wage while on orders, though this excludes waiting time. Deliveroo asserts its algorithm, "Frank," is designed for efficiency, while Uber states its matching tools balance various factors for optimal app experience. Just Eat also uses technology overseen by humans to match deliveries with couriers.