Ride-hailing passengers could in the future summon autonomous vehicles to their doorsteps by simply tapping an app. The vehicles are currently equipped with drivers. Some passengers seem to have escaped our technological limitations and entered a world in which human drivers are no longer necessary. These riders believe that we are already in the age of autonomous vehicles.
I am a Lyft driver, a real person in Portland, Oregon. I drive a white Kia Optima Hybrid 2016. I pick up passengers at dawn. Sometimes, when I accelerate with a rider in the back seat, I imagine that after reaching a certain speed, the real me vanishes. I am replaced by an invisible, generic driver who many Lyft passengers believe is my ghost.
Since I was a Lyft driver, I spoke and behaved the same way as I interact with strangers every day when I first started. However, I quickly discovered that passengers behaved differently than I thought they would in a stranger's car. Later I saw that my behavior had also changed.
Although my experiences are those of a driver I also consider the passenger's perspective. I've heard from passengers that they are uncomfortable on silent rides. I always begin with some generic conversation prompts. It is easy to see when someone needs a quiet ride. Other people want to have a conversation with someone, and I'm happy to help. I've also heard from passengers about their experiences with drivers who made them uncomfortable, such as hitting on them or engaging in political rantings. I've also heard of drivers being assaulted by passengers or passengers. Drivers and passengers are two different people in a moving vehicle. I believe some of the passengers' indifference is their way of handling what can be frightening.
Many passengers tend to think that the app, my car and I are one big app. As if the app makes the driving experience in my car different from the driving experience in real life for the passengers.
Robin Hanson, an associate professor of economics at George Mason University, said that the abstract hypothesis isn't absurd. He used an analogy to show how servants were treated throughout history. There are servants that you must talk to in order to accomplish something, and there are also servants that you don't need to speak to. The app should be able to move people from one category to another.
Susan Schneider, director at Florida Atlantic University's Center for the Future Mind, said that when we used these apps, our main focus was on the transaction and not connecting with someone. An app can treat a person as a step. It is important to remember that a person is part of the transaction.
It's not that I find it difficult to see invisible. I find it more disturbing that apps can cause us to see life in a different way, making our experiences seem abstracted from reality. Empathy and care don't necessarily go through this layer. This layer is the result of services that are designed to make our lives easier but also makes us disconnected from one another. I felt like I could see how passengers would behave if they were driving an autonomous car.
