Waymo's Door Dilemma: Robotaxis Need Humans... to Close Their Doors?

TL;DR: In a twist nobody saw coming, Waymo's advanced robotaxis are hitting a very human snag: passengers leaving doors ajar. Now, the autonomous leader is paying gig workers to literally drive around and close car doors. Turns out, even in the future, some problems are just old school.

Meta: Waymo, the leading robotaxi company, is hiring gig workers to manually close doors on its Jaguar I-Pace fleet, highlighting an unexpected human error in autonomous operations.

Alright, alright, settle down, folks! We're talking about the future here, self-driving cars, robotaxis ferrying you around without a human in sight. Sounds pretty slick, right? But even in this high-tech utopia, some problems are just... basic. And Waymo, Alphabet's star player in the autonomous game, just hit one that's got me scratching my head: folks leaving the car doors open! Yeah, you heard me. These million-dollar marvels are getting stuck because some passengers can't seem to master the ancient art of closing a car door completely.

The Gig Economy Steps In

So, what's a robotaxi company to do when its fancy Jaguar I-Pace EVs won't move an inch with an open door? They call in the cavalry! Not engineers, not AI specialists, but gig workers. That's right, Waymo is reportedly paying people in Los Angeles between $20 and $24 a pop to rescue their stranded robotaxis by simply... closing the door. They're using an app called Honk, usually for towing services, to dispatch these door-closing heroes. That's a whole new level of 'human in the loop,' ain't it?

Cesar Marenco, a towing company owner, told The Washington Post he's become a regular Waymo door-closer. He's doing up to three jobs a week. Imagine explaining that to your grandkids: "Back in my day, I used to get paid twenty bucks to close a robot's door." It's hilarious, but it also shines a light on the unexpected challenges when cutting humans out of the driving equation.

The Future is... Automatic Doors?

This whole situation highlights a funny paradox: for all the talk of advanced sensors, LIDAR, and AI, a simple mechanical oversight is causing real-world operational hiccups. Waymo's current Jaguar I-Pace fleet uses traditional doors, meaning it's up to the human passengers to seal the deal. When a power outage hit San Francisco, stranding robotaxis, some frustrated riders bailed early, leaving doors ajar, which then required a human assist. It's a comedy of errors, really.

But fear not, future commuters! The solution is already in the pipeline. Waymo is testing Hyundai Ioniq 5 crossovers, though those also have manual doors. The real fix might come from their custom-made robotaxis developed with China's Zeekr, which sport minivan-style automatic doors. Amazon's Zoox autonomous pods already use electric doors too. So, the robots are learning, or rather, the vehicles are evolving to be more foolproof against human... let's call them 'quirks.'

What's Next

Expect Waymo and other robotaxi operators to accelerate the deployment of vehicles with automatic or power-closing doors to mitigate this very human problem. This incident also serves as a reminder that the path to full autonomy isn't just about the driving; it's about seamlessly integrating with all aspects of human behavior. We're still in the early innings of this robotaxi game, and clearly, there are still some basic rules to figure out. Until then, if you see a Waymo with a slightly open door, you might just be looking at a twenty-dollar opportunity. You heard it here first, now go get that paper!