Delivery riders demand transparency on AI algorithms that they say are cutting pay

Edinburgh delivery riders, coordinated by the Workers’ Observatory, are calling on Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat to open the “black box” of the algorithms that match couriers with orders and calculate pay. Riders report that earnings have halved over four years even though the number of deliveries per hour remains steady, citing data collected by long-time couriers such as David and Dylan. The Observatory, backed by new decade-long research funding, has run experiments showing that rejecting low-pay offers can temporarily raise rates for some but penalise others, sometimes resulting in unexplained deactivations.

Platforms defend their practices, noting a minimum hourly fee, a recent 3.8% increase, and human review of major account decisions, while also promoting AI tools like Deliveroo’s “Frank” algorithm. Parallel legal action in Amsterdam claims the AI-driven pricing violates data-protection laws and forces drivers into “constant fear” of unpredictable earnings.