This is What Drives Us

“Employing hundreds of social scientists and data scientists, Uber has experimented with video game techniques, graphics and noncash rewards of little value that can prod drivers into working longer and harder — and sometimes at hours and locations that are less lucrative for them.” The NYT’s Noam Scheiber provides a very interesting look at how Uber uses psychological tricks to push its drivers’ buttons. If these methods seem familiar, it’s because many of them are used on all of us as we interact with our favorite sites and apps. Technology might not take your job. But it will almost certainly be your boss.

+ AP on the employees getting implanted with microchips so they can “open doors, operate printers, or buy smoothies with a wave of the hand.” (Sounds like a fair tradeoff. My employer gets to turn me into a remote control cyborg, and I get my frozen drink like two seconds sooner.)