NYT Essay: Didi Drivers to DoorDash Workers, the Shared Feeling of Being Harvested by AI's Future
S_OhEigeartaigh · x · 2026-10-07
The New York Times published an essay by author Yi-Ling Liu, "The Shared Feeling of Being Harvested by the Future." Minutes after landing in Shanghai, her Didi driver begged her to cancel the ride and pay via WeChat: with too many drivers chasing too few fares, he'd otherwise wait hours at the airport — "I've got an older and a younger generation to support." She draws parallels to US DoorDash couriers whose earnings are dictated by dispatch algorithms and Amazon Flex workers competing for scarce delivery blocks, arguing workers in both countries are being squeezed by optimization systems in strikingly similar ways. Framed around Trump's recent China visit, the essay explores how algorithmic and AI-driven economies are reshaping labor on both sides of the Pacific.
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