Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

The thread is going off-topic again, but your statement does surprise me. So we sit on the internet, order products to be delivered to us preferably without a driver, and the food as well at the same time? And the drivers who are still poor and exploited today don’t have to worry anymore – they’ll just be unemployed. The Bangladeshis and Vietnamese who cobble this crap together for us are still the ones with chances? Randomly meeting other people no longer happens because why bother? All power to Jeff? Is that the brave new world?

Phew, now I need a coffee first... from the roaster I trust, picked up myself. But it would have been cheaper online anyway. Me, the fool, again.

Always this bad habit of referring to studies without naming them. Your study could just as well be your regular drinking buddy. So please name it, or leave it.

Let's take the Deloitte study "Urban Mobility and Autonomous Driving in 2035" or the publication "Autonomous Driving" by Markus Maurer, J. Christian Gerdes, Barbara Lenz, and Hermann Winner. It describes that, among other things, three points occur: the number of vehicles decreases, the distance traveled per person increases, and traffic flow, especially in cities, is relieved. The increase in kilometers per person is explained particularly by the attractiveness of the offer and the participation of non-license holders but also by empty trips (just as you wrote). Another effect is the significantly reduced parking space required. From a market perspective, it is therefore expected that an autonomous vehicle will replace between 8 and 13 cars—taking into account that some people will keep their cars. Overall, this argues for an exceptionally good efficiency.

But I am sure the vehicles are full of packages and drive optimized short routes within the target area.

I am sure of that too—regardless of how many orders are bundled or if every pen is a separate package... There is also potential here in behavior.

Nope, I agree with Tassimat: The times when thousands of annoyed families were stuck in car convoys back and forth, fighting over parking spaces and sitting stressed and burdened with shopping bags back in traffic jams were definitely not better.

I also agree with —and an autonomously driving infrastructure can help there. However, I doubt that individual part ordering by shipping from all directions is the ultimate wisdom. Ultimately, this is also a form of inefficient unbundling for which the cause does not pay.

Which retail stores in city centers? Or when earlier? Not every city has over 100k inhabitants with corresponding shops. The city centers of towns with 10K inhabitants did everything in the 80s/90s to drive away their customers. Online retail would never have grown so big if retail had been good.

....So we're sitting on the net, ordering products that preferably come to us without a driver, and the food ideally along with it? And the drivers who are still poor and redundant today don't have to worry anymore - they'll be unemployed then. ...

Phew, now I need a coffee first...

you've got it!

It's called the 4th industrial revolution (consequences of AI & co)

This will cause several million jobs to disappear.
Not tomorrow, but gradually.

However, this is still preferably ignored by politics, just as the foreseeable nuclear energy problems were 40 years ago. Instead, people prefer to believe that the problems – as usual – can be passed downwards and the market will solve them through inherent magic. And later, the ignorants will confirm among themselves that this could not have been foreseen.

Have another coffee ...

How much I would love to have a legal right to 2-3 days of [Homeoffice], no longer having to go to the city to shop, and being able to calmly sit in an autonomous module on my presence days without having to struggle through traffic.
Seriously: this is a dream! 3 x [Homeoffice] per week would save me 240km weekly. In addition, also a good 6 hours of life time.
Shopping is similar. I already buy a lot online. Large [Packstation]? VERY gladly!
Autonomously driven mobiles? How cool!

All the freed-up time can be wonderfully used for family and friends. Rural areas are strengthened, vacated office buildings serve as living space in the city. Emissions are sustainably reduced, quality of life increases.
By the way, 2 out of 3 proposals can be implemented immediately...

The classic neoliberals always come up with that argument. As if the Syrian, Russian, or whoever else, bio or synthetic German would gladly deliver packages and thus do their dream job. That is a completely different problem that must be approached in a completely different way. For example, I am in favor of a basic income, more education, more support for volunteer work, and appreciation, especially monetary, for jobs that cannot or can only poorly be automated. Otherwise, yes, everything that can be easily automated should be automated. Whoever loves an automatable job and performs it with love will also have their livelihood. Your coffee roaster, for example, can offer a tasting, really nice with oat cookies and spring water, and also give you the first package right away. But the subscription for the next few months comes automatically either to the packing station on your street or to your workplace exactly on the day you have an in-person day. And I didn’t mean that all this should be left to Jeff or the big G.