AI Changes China's Job Market, Taxi Drivers and Cleaners Start to Be Marginalized

Illustration of a human and a robot. The use of AI in China has begun to trigger concerns for workers, from taxi drivers to film industry workers. Illustration photo: Pexels.

JAKARTA - The use of artificial intelligence or AI on a large scale has begun to put pressure on workers in China. The impact is felt from taxi drivers in Wuhan to film workers in Beijing.

The Guardian, quoted on Friday, July 31, reported that workers' anxiety about AI is increasing amid China's fragile labor market. The technology is now being rapidly applied in the transportation, office, and creative industries.

In Wuhan, Baidu's Apollo Go robotaxi came under the spotlight after several units experienced a system failure in March. The driverless car suddenly stopped on the road and left passengers trapped for hours.

The robotaxi fleet was then pulled off the streets of Wuhan for several months for investigation.

The disruption has a different impact on Yao Xinnong, a 45-year-old taxi driver. His income has increased again after passengers switched back to regular taxis.

Previously, Yao's income had fallen by about 40 percent since Apollo Go was launched in 2022.

"I honestly don't like them very much," Yao told The Guardian of the driverless taxis. "The impact is huge."

AI is a technology that allows machines to carry out tasks that usually require human ability. In China, AI is being pushed on a large scale, including through robotaxi services.

Speaking at the World AI Conference in Shanghai in July, Chinese President Xi Jinping said AI should be "an important driver of common prosperity and common security".

However, the implementation of AI is happening at a time when China's labor market is not strong. In addition to facing high unemployment, China is also seeing many workers leave formal jobs and enter the gig economy.

The gig economy is a flexible work pattern based on projects or applications, such as online transportation and freelance work.

According to a research institute, the number of flexible workers in China is expected to rise to 320 million this year. In 2019, the number was 160 million people. The latest figure is equivalent to about 44 percent of China's workforce.

Taxi drivers are among the groups affected. As the real estate and education sectors weaken, many workers turn to online transportation apps to find income. Now, they face competition from robotaxis.

"If the country really considers you, Apollo Go will never enter the market," a Wuhan driver was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

"If in the future things continue like this, of course, rapid development and progress in science is good. But ordinary people like us will have no place to survive," he said.

In 2024, taxi drivers in Wuhan protested the launch of Apollo Go. The number of protesters was unclear because news about the action was quickly censored.

Several drivers interviewed in Wuhan said they heard the protests, but denied being involved.

In the same year, a taxi company in Wuhan openly criticized the government's policy of allowing automation to enter the city's streets.

"The latest rise in autonomous ride-hailing vehicles has allowed the technology to monopolize resources and take the livelihoods of people at the bottom of the pyramid," the company's letter said.

When The Guardian visited the taxi company's office in July, an employee refused to be interviewed. He said there was an agreement with the police to refuse interviews and the risk of detention if they violated it.

The Chinese government has recently begun to highlight the impact of AI on jobs. An editorial in Workers' Daily, a state-run media, said labor rights "face new challenges" in the AI era.

The article also warned of "a clash between traditional labor regulations and the technological iteration of AI".

The Chinese government recently promised to address the impact of external environmental changes and new technological developments such as AI on employment.

Selina Xu, a China technology analyst, said there was a "big mood shift" from Beijing. After the success of the local AI model DeepSeek last year, China is strongly supporting AI development.

According to Xu, the new guidelines issued this year emphasize AI to promote employment and a human-centric approach.

Cheng Wanhui, an official at the Zhongguancun high-tech zone in Beijing, said authorities were paying attention to the social and ethical issues brought by AI.

"The key is for everyone to change their mindset, see AI as a tool, and learn how to apply it in future work," said Cheng.

The Guardian also noted that a number of recent court rulings have compensated office workers who were dismissed after the company replaced them with AI.

However, many workers are concerned that the use of AI is actually an obstacle to getting a job from the start.

Concerns are also emerging in the film industry. Tian Zemin, a cinematographer in Beijing, has been working in the industry for almost two decades. Now he is unemployed.

"I spent six gruelling years climbing up to be a cinematographer, only to be replaced by a piece of software," Tian wrote on social media.

"I thought I would spend my whole life in this industry. But the advent of AI has made me feel a big shock for the first time," Tian told The Guardian.

Many of Tian's colleagues have also been sidelined as AI is increasingly used in the film industry. Tian's rate as a freelancer is now 40 percent of his rate in 2019.

According to Tian, AI development is progressing very quickly. Last year, AI still produced avatars that looked bad and weird. Now, AI can create convincing digital clones for feature films.

"We had almost no time to react," Tian said.

A number of analysts believe China is better able to withstand the impact of job losses due to AI than the United States because the government has a large control over the private sector. Beijing, for example, can ask companies to comply with recruitment quotas, said Xu.

However, Tian said workers remained in a vulnerable position.

"We can be replaced at any time," he said. "Maybe the only thing we can do is adapt as quickly as possible, and try to find corners that AI can't replace yet. But those corners are getting smaller and smaller."