Toronto Tech Week ends, Homecoming speakers discuss AI jobs

Toronto Tech Week concluded Wednesday with thousands of attendees participating in hundreds of events across the city. The week's focal point was the Homecoming conference, where industry leaders addressed the future of work, technological disruption, and the evolving landscape of global business.

Andrew Macdonald, Uber's president and chief operating officer, acknowledged that technological advances like artificial intelligence will create new, unforeseen jobs, but also endanger existing roles. He specifically highlighted the vulnerability of gig economy workers. Macdonald stated he could not predict what the 10.5 million people currently earning money on Uber would be doing in 15 years. He noted that demand for such workers might increase for a period before decreasing, at least for the types of jobs done today. The job security of drivers and couriers is seen as particularly at risk because they are not employed by the ride-hailing companies, which are investing heavily in autonomous driving technology. Uber has invested in the Toronto-based self-driving truck business Waabi. When asked about the timeline for self-driving vehicles on Uber's platform in Canada, Macdonald said...