The founder of China’s largest e-commerce platform has issued a notable warning regarding the future of delivery jobs, suggesting that all 700,000 delivery personnel will eventually be replaced by automation. If this shift occurs in the gig economy, it could have global implications.
At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Forum in Shenzhen, JD.com founder Richard Liu expressed concern that as robotic delivery systems advance, gig economy jobs may become obsolete. His remarks reflect rising unease among Chinese officials about the rapid development of automation technology potentially destabilizing employment, particularly for the nation’s most vulnerable workers.
Liu pointed out that JD.com is already partnering with around 120 educational institutions to retrain these 700,000 delivery workers for new positions, specifically in robot maintenance and repair. He stressed that mechanical systems are prone to failures, which creates a continuous demand for technicians skilled in maintaining automated systems.
“In the future, packages will be delivered by robots, and inevitably there will come a time when couriers will be largely unnecessary,” Liu stated during the forum. “While robots will undoubtedly handle deliveries, I genuinely hope that 700,000 of my fellow citizens won’t find themselves without food or employment,” he remarked.
While Liu did not specify when robots will be widely implemented in China, various experimental trials are already taking place across the country and worldwide.
Additionally, it has been reported that Pokemon GO players accidentally trained delivery robots to navigate terrain more effectively.
The Visual Positioning System is said to enhance location accuracy to mere centimeters by analyzing surrounding buildings and landmarks, which marks a significant improvement over conventional GPS technology. This crowdsourced mapping initiative represents one of the largest real-world data collection projects ever conducted through a mobile game, illustrating how user-generated content can have lasting value.
“Interestingly, the challenge of making Pikachu run around realistically and ensuring Koko’s robot navigates safely and accurately is fundamentally similar,” noted Niantic Spatial CEO John Hanke in a recent MIT Technology Review interview.
JD.com stands as one of China’s prominent online retailers, competing with Alibaba and Meituan domestically, while also managing the Joybuy platform in several European nations, such as the UK, France, and Germany. The company saw its Nasdaq listing in 2014 and has a secondary listing in Hong Kong.
