There are articles in the press about how Waymo drivers are so lazy that gig workers are getting paid up to $24 to close the door so that the Waymo can go.
The other day I was down by the Embarcadero in San Francisco and passed a Waymo sitting with it’s doors unlocked (you can tell as the handles are raised out of the door) and it didn’t seem to be going anywhere. I parked and was walking back to go to the Ferry Building and it was still there. The top info display read “Help” and so I crossed the street and closed the door. In this case, it wasn’t that someone didn’t close the door strongly enough – it was simply that the seat belt had gotten in the way of the door closing.
Now, I do have an idea where Waymo uses the same bluetooth technology that recognizes it’s passenger and unlocks the doors to know that it was me that closed the door and pay me the $24, but that’s not the point of this idea.
This idea was that we’re in a new world, and our etiquette should match. As Emily Post wrote about the etiquette of holding open doors for other people, we need etiquette for closing doors for Waymo.
Now, since these posts are about the ideas as well as the ups and downs of my creative process, I’ll note a few things:
- I couldn’t get Gemini to really do what I wanted for this, no matter how hard I try. I grant that I am still a beginner on prompts, but it also feels like a stubborn child who just does what it wants to do.
- I find it interesting that Gemini and Waymo are related, but even though it writes Waymo, it provides a drawing that features a Tesla. I know Waymo operates many types of vehicles in different markets, but they are Jaguars here.
Now, I realize I took $24 out of the mouth of an Uber driver by doing what I did, but I still think it was a form of etiquette. Or kowtowing to my robot overlords.
Note: The new self-driving vehicles by Xoox have sliding doors and they can open and close themselves. They’ve eliminated that business expense.
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