Driverless cars hit the roads in China as threat of job losses causes concern

Record ID: 1834307

  • Title: Driverless cars hit the roads in China as threat of job losses causes concern
  • Date: 8th August 2024
  • Summary: WUHAN, CHINA (JULY 19, 2024) (REUTERS) PERSON CLICKING ON ‘START JOURNEY’ BUTTON IN BAIDU APOLLO GO ROBOTAXI CAR / CAR SETTING OFF ON JOURNEY, SEEN FROM BACK SEAT STREET VIEW AS SEEN FROM CAR AUTONOMOUS STEERING WHEEL WORKING DURING JOURNEY EMPTY CAR DRIVER’S SEAT / STEERING WHEEL IN ACTION ROBOTAXI CARS DRIVING AUTONOMOUSLY ON STREET DRIVERLESS CAR SENSOR ATOP ROBOTAXI, D
  • Embargoed: 22nd August 2024 02:06
  • Keywords: AI POWERED INSTRUCTOR CARS AUTOMATION AUTONOMOUS DRIVING BAIDU APOLLO GO BEIJING CHINA EASTERN PIONEER DRIVING SCHOOL ECONOMIC IMPACT GOVERNMENT RESPONSE JOB LOSSES TECHNOLOGY UNEMPLOYMENT WUHAN TAXI DRIVERS
  • Location: BEIJING, WUHAN, CHINA
  • City: BEIJING, WUHAN, CHINA
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Information Technologies / Computer Sciences,Science
  • Reuters ID: LVA001332831072024RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:As China speeds ahead of the rest of the world in the rollout of driverless technology, it is also charging into another first: the threat to jobs in a driverless economy.
    From robotaxis undercutting taxi fares to a driving school replacing hundreds of human instructors, China is starting to debate the reckoning from a technology still over the horizon elsewhere.
    It's a daily topic on the streets of Wuhan, where the central Chinese city's unmatched speed in adopting robotaxis is an early test of the impact of driverless cars on jobs.
    Baidu’s Apollo Go now runs 24/7 in central China’s Wuhan city with its network offering service to 7.7 million residents - more than half of the city's population.
    The autonomous vehicles do not have a supervising driver overseeing operations during trips, but a service help assistant is in direct contact when there is an issue or when assistance is needed.
    The company declined to comment on drivers' concerns about Apollo Go threatening their jobs. However, taxi drivers with whom Reuters did speak to but were not allowed to film, did say the robotaxis have taken over a large portion of short-distance trips in city areas, and that it was having an impact on their incomes.
    With Baidu announcing plans to expand to 100 Chinese cities by 2030, it’s also expected to deploy 1,000 of its newest robotaxis in Wuhan and break even per robotaxi by the end of this year.
    Xun Tianchen, a senior economist from the Economist Intelligence Unit based in Beijing, said the rollout of robotaxis and the introduction of AI instructors were impacting “pockets of the economy” but not all.
    However, if rollouts do become nationwide, there will be an “intervention in the markets” by the government to calm things down especially when it comes to unemployment.
    At the headquarters of one of China's largest driving schools on the outskirts of Beijing, a few instructors at a NASA-like control centre remotely monitor students in 610 cars equipped with AI instructors. The massive screens provide real-time analysis and feedback, including the number of successful parallel parking attempts.
    Since automating instruction in 2019, Eastern Pioneer Driving School has more than halved the number of human instructors at its sprawling campus to around 900. Today, 80 percent of their students opt for AI instructors and the company only needs 1.5 teachers per 10 students.
    Instructors who once sat in the passenger seat now patrol training lots where advanced computers incorporate GPS signals and sensors to score students on every turn and tap of the brakes. Before students enter the AI cars, VR simulators coach them on navigating winding roads.
    "Moreover, our students' (overall) experience and (driving exam) pass rates have (also) improved, as labour costs have gone down for us as well. Overall, the result has been positive,” said Zhang Yang, director of the school's intelligent training department.
    As China pushes for a strategic lead in autonomous driving. A national priority to invest in what President Xi Jinping calls 'new productive forces' has unleashed a welter of local testing.
    In June, China gave nine automakers approval to test advanced driver assistance systems on public roads. Last month, Beijing published draft regulations for autonomous vehicle use in public transportation and ride-hailing.
    Xun added it can be in the next 5-10 years before innovations Baidu’s Apollo Go becomes a “real threat”. But the question still remains on how the central government, or even the local governments will have to deal with balancing innovations versus threat to jobs as AI shifts from hypothetical threat/promise to real world economic implications for workers and consumers in China.
    (Production: Josh D. Arslan, Sarah Wu)
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