Autonomous Cars Are Coming for Uber Drivers — Should We Be Worried
Autonomous cars are no longer science fiction. Companies are already testing and operating robotaxis in several cities, and the technology improves every year. If you’re an Uber or Lyft driver, that raises an uncomfortable question:
What happens to us when cars can drive themselves?
As rideshare drivers, we probably have a little more reason to think about this than most people.
A Moment That Stuck With Me
Driving rideshare means you see people during all kinds of moments in their lives. One ride that stuck with me happened in the middle of the morning. A woman pushed an older man off the porch toward my car. He was clearly drunk and struggling to even get into the vehicle. The ride itself was supposed to take 10 minutes, but traffic made it much longer.
The moment that stuck with me wasn’t the inconvenience.
When I dropped him off, a man and a young boy were standing outside. The older man I had driven was clearly part of their family. The boy was holding a soccer ball as he watched his grandfather stumble out of the car.
You see moments like that as a driver, little snapshots of people’s lives that stay with you long after the ride ends. Those human moments are part of what makes rideshare unique. And they’re also something robots probably won’t replace.
Why People Are Talking About “Humanizing” Robots
Recently, I saw a discussion about people damaging autonomous Waymo vehicles. Someone asked a strange question: “Do you feel sorry for the robots?” That question gets into a concept called anthropomorphism, the idea that humans naturally assign human qualities to non-human things.
We do it all the time. We call our dogs our children. We talk to our cars. And sometimes people even feel sympathy for machines. But autonomous cars aren’t human. They’re tools.
The real question isn’t whether we feel sorry for robots. The real question is how autonomous vehicles will change society and our jobs.
Autonomous Cars Might Be Better for Society
Here’s the thing. As much as it may threaten rideshare drivers, autonomous vehicles could actually be great for society.
Imagine being able to open your phone anywhere, anytime, and have a car show up in minutes, no driver required. The efficiency alone could transform transportation. Autonomous cars could also dramatically reduce the cost of rides.
Right now, human drivers are the highest cost in a rideshare trip. If someone pays $20 for an Uber ride, a large portion of that money ultimately goes to the driver. Remove the driver, and suddenly the ride becomes much cheaper. That could make transportation accessible to more people.
From a passenger perspective, that’s a huge benefit.
What Passengers Actually Care About
When you really think about it, most passengers care about two things:
Speed and price.
They want a car to show up quickly. And they want the ride to be affordable. Autonomous cars can potentially deliver both.
Robotaxis could wait on street corners, ready to accept rides instantly. Without labor costs, they could also operate more cheaply than human-driven rideshare vehicles. From a purely economic perspective, the technology makes sense.
The Problem for Drivers
Of course, what’s good for society isn’t always good for everyone.
For rideshare drivers, autonomous vehicles represent a very real threat. It may not happen tomorrow. It might take five years. It might take twenty years. But the direction is clear: automation is coming to transportation, just as it has to many other industries.
We already see it everywhere. Self-checkout lines at grocery stores. AI is taking orders in drive-thru restaurants. Automated customer service systems are replacing human operators.
Transportation will likely follow the same path.
So What Should Drivers Do?
The worst thing we could do is pretend the technology isn’t coming. The best thing we can do is prepare for change. That might mean:
Diversifying income
Building businesses outside rideshare
Using rideshare driving as a temporary opportunity rather than a permanent career
For now, though, rideshare still exists. And millions of people still rely on drivers every day.
The Human Side of Driving
Even in a future with autonomous vehicles, one thing will remain true: Driving rideshare is more than just transportation. It’s conversations. It’s random stories. It’s moments where you see the good, the strange, and sometimes the sad parts of people’s lives. Technology may replace driving.
But the human experience of rideshare is something entirely different.
For Now, We Keep Driving
Autonomous vehicles may eventually transform transportation.
Drivers are still on the road, and passengers still need rides. There’s still money to be made.
So for now, the mission is simple: Drive safely. Take care of your passengers. And make money while the opportunity is here.
Question for you:
Would you feel comfortable riding in a fully autonomous car with no driver?
Let me know what you think.
