Uber’s driverless vehicles debut in Pittsburgh

Uber's driverless vehicles have debuted in Pittsburgh and select riders in the city are among the first in the world to have seen the technology up close, which according to commentators meant the development could one day see human labour replaced by technology in yet another industry.

Uber yesterday sought to assure drivers, engineers and technicians that their skills were needed, even as the company started looking for autonomous vehicle operators to help in the ride-share company's research endeavours.

According to a letter sent by Jennifer Krusius, general manager, Uber,  sent to drivers, the company was assembling a workforce to demonstrate driverless technology.

''We know you'll have questions about what this technology means for your future,'' Krusius wrote. ''The past has shown that technology creates new work opportunities, while disrupting existing ones.''

She cited a 2015 International Monetary Fund report to argue that while some people predicted ATMs would spell doom for bank tellers, they cut the cost of running a local bank which led to the opening of more branches, employing more people.

Meanwhile, according to commentators, the debut of robot cars should not come as a surprise, since Uber CEO and co-founder Travis Kalanick predicted in 2014 in an interview at the Code conference that the end of human drivers was eventually nigh.

''And when those bad boys are made, look, the way to think about it, the magic of self-driving vehicles, is that the reason Uber [is] expensive is because you're not just paying for the car, you're paying for the other dude in the car,'' said Kalanick. ''And so, when there's no other dude in the car the cost of taking an Uber anywhere becomes cheaper than owning a vehicle ... And of course that means safer rides, that means more environmentally friendly, that means a lot of things.''