writing

Prologue: Will Artificial Intelligence Really Take Away Human Creativity?

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Welcome to my next blog phase: The Human Project. I really want to call this blog an inciter toward a new movement based on new factions developing in the creative world speaking out on artificial intelligence eliminating human-led creativity. Most of this is evolving in Hollywood where key directors and actors are vocally protesting against AI taking away creative job roles from real people. Some of those names include Guillermo del Toro, Park Chan-wook, and Steven Spielberg as just a few examples. Yeah, basically the best directors we have still living.

Del Toro was the most forceful in his comments while promoting his Netflix horror film “Frankenstein” in late fall of 2025. He uttered “F*** AI!” during press interviews for the film. And he made it clear he wanted nothing but practical effects in the movie, something that obviously proved itself as more ethereal and meaningful. 

Then you have a notable actor like Ethan Hawke who recently called out AI for being boring and having no soul, not including being plagiarism machines. He said real people interest him far more in how they act, what they say, how they smell, and—well, you know. It was the most pro-human stance uttered from a creative actor, so far, within the small growing pact of those opposed to leaning on AI for all creativity.

With this blog, I’m going to join these individuals in finding some solutions and uphold the art of humans creating things. This won’t be a complete anti-AI tirade, mind you. We have to acknowledge that AI is here, evolving at light speed, but needed as a collaborative tool rather than a complete crutch. 

The problem is, many creative companies are going full throttle on relying 100% on AI. As we progress through 2026, there isn’t a doubt we’ll see much of that rev up to alarming levels. I’ll be looking at the whole picture, including whether the public will really embrace AI robots to do things for us in the home and workplace.

To start, though, I’ll be creating a comparison chart on whether humans are truly better at creating things compared to AI bots. Some say we soon won’t be able to tell the difference. I beg to differ since AI still has subtle markers that indicate it’s artificial based on what I deem a lack of an aura. I’ll try to explain what that is in future blogs as well. 

After a number of chapters, I hope to find some answers to where we’re going in this dizzying new world of AI evolutionary leaps. Also looked at will be things like whether AI is already sentient and if it’s currently in control of where we’ll be going. If we have no real control, then this blog will become all the more important on creating a middle ground movement. My full intention is to find some kind of happy medium where we, as human beings, can still work and create things—with AI just being docile helpers when we need them. 

Keep in mind that I use AI chatbots quite frequently, going along with the roaring throng. In an upcoming piece, I’ll be looking at AI chat bots like Grok and ChatGPT to see whether we should be using them to help with creative projects, or draw some ethical lines. As for me, I’ve used them for a few minor creative ideas when stumped. Mostly, though, I create a blog, song, or other media project myself and ask the bots what they think of it. Their opinions on what they think of our own work is one likely bringing just as much of a debate.

One thing to note about the above AI bots is they seem overly eager to praise certain ideas I (or perhaps you) create. Whether that’s manipulative or not is something I also want to touch on soon. As AI takes hold in our world, what it says to us is sometimes a bit suspect, if wanting to believe it’s sincere.

With all these ideas stirred in a giant pot, I also want to uphold the idea that human beings need to work, one way or the other. The recent idea from Elon Musk that AI will eventually eliminate any need to do labor is one that sounds appealing at first—if potentially dangerous to our well-being. We don’t know for sure how that’ll play out, but I want to reflect on certain jobs that should be mostly human-centered. And I definitely want to uphold your own job if you think AI might be taking it away from you this year or in coming years.

This reflects personally for me, additionally, since I work full-time at Amazon doing mostly physical labor on their ship dock. With Amazon’s CEO recently saying that AI will mostly take over rote warehouse operations within a decade, I’ll be opining on exactly how wrong that thinking is. 

Yes, it may turn out that humans can outperform bots by working in a certain, physical way. 

Hopefully this prologue gave you a little taste of what I have in mind for The Human Project through 2025 and beyond. I figure it’ll be one of the single most important subjects throughout the rest of the 2020s, if not longer. What the ultimate outcome will be if I’m still doing this blog five years from now is a long mystery away. 

Here’s to the hope this writing project becomes a significant spoke in the giant wheel of coalitions that want to work this out in the best possible way. I also promote the idea of community on this, so I’ll be offering anyone to send a guest opinion piece, or just opine in the comment sections as much as possible. 

Look out for Part 1 soon, which will be the above comparison chart on what makes a compelling creative piece by humans vs. AI. As you probably learned in my Uber Eats/DoorDash blog, I also won’t always have a straight face on these overly serious subjects. 

P.S.—All prior content from my independent TV/movie writing (going back to 2015) to the DoorDash blog are still archived here forever. Feel free to peruse any of that when I have inevitable breaks/gaps in The Human Project publishing schedule. 

/End

Chapter XL: Uber Eats Suing DoorDash with an AntiTrust Suit for Anti-Competitiveness

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Since I started this blog in January of 2024, I always made sure to include Uber Eats AND DoorDash in the titles since I worked for both over a two-year span. Both were very good for me, if also challenging in their procedures. But I always set the idea that they were nearly identical in stature, if not even on an equal plane in profits made.

It turns out, they’re a lot more competitive than most people think, with apparent imbalance in their popularity. Uber Eats filed an antitrust suit against DoorDash earlier this year because they claimed latter has recently been pressuring restaurants throughout America to exclusively use their delivery service. Uber says this is affecting their own profits as a result and creating a sense of general anticompetitiveness in the food delivery marketplace.

DoorDash says Uber is overreacting and that their service is picked more often by restaurants because they simply offer better features. Let’s turn on the mediator head here and try to figure out who’s really right. Is DoorDash finding ways to twist the truth of their actions, or is Uber right that there needs to be a more fair system in marketing to America’s eateries?

I’m not partial to one or the other since I worked for both. It was Uber Eats for the first year (eventually reaching Diamond status), then DoorDash the second year (reaching Platinum). Both have their extreme pros and cons, though the way they approach restaurants to use their services was never known to me. At the time, however, it seemed like DoorDash was always getting top billing on restaurant windows/ads, with Uber usually second-billed.

What’s really going on here, and what’s the eventual outcome? Since both companies were financially helpful to me for two years, I consider this final blog segment about them to be a form of peace pipe.

Is DoorDash Really Being Unfair to Uber Eats?

One could say DoorDash does have a more successful system that lets new restaurants be able to market themselves while using effective onboarding support tools. They reportedly have a better support base that uses real phone agents when restaurants need help. Uber Eats is apparently using more automated systems of late, if still having better data tools to help restaurants track metrics. 

Both companies have high commission fees, so restaurants shouldn’t expect to save any money. This is a problem I’ve already addressed in a recent blog, making either choice of DoorDash or Uber a challenge for new eateries looking to make maximum profits. 

Looking at stats for both, though, I noticed one thing that really stood out about DoorDash: They cover a lot of wider areas outside of cities, including rural territory. I delivered quite a lot to rural areas, a market that’s obviously growing since those people are in greater need of food deliveries due to distance. Uber Eats seems more focused on urban areas, which may not have the bigger concentration of customers restaurants cater to.

DoorDash is more centered on the suburbs in addition to some rural areas. These seem to have the biggest percentage of customers in general compared to those who live strictly in urban environments. 

Perhaps Uber Eats should focus on growing their customer base to these areas to have real hope of competing with DoorDash. With that in mind, it might look like they’re just playing a sour grapes card in filing an antitrust suit. 

But then, when seeing the claims against DoorDash, you have to wonder if the competition between the two is turning into a real blood sport.

Are DoorDash Threats Against Restaurants Real?

The above antitrust suit from Uber Technologies against DoorDash additionally says that latter threatens restaurants to remove them from the marketplace if Uber Eats is also added to the mix. DoorDash also supposedly threatens restaurants with higher commission fees if contracting with Uber Eats.

These scare tactics have allegedly hurt the revenue for Uber Eats, hence them also attempting to stay competitive in a more aggressive way. For instance, their ride share system helps give an edge in competing, and it’s something DoorDash hasn’t taken on—yet. Also, a lot of restaurants and users probably don’t know that Uber frequently does a lot of loss-leading with their delivery fees, etc, to attract more customers later.

So far, Uber hasn’t raised their prices after doing loss-leading. This means they may have a good case on their hands in being the underdog while DoorDash continues to overshadow them. 

Can DoorDash and Uber Eats Work Together to Become Better?

As of this writing, the antitrust suit Uber filed against DoorDash is still pending. It’s likely going to be a long-winded case once the courts take it on. Keep in mind that this suit was filed in California where the courts are likely tied up for years. DoorDash looked to have the lawsuit dismissed, but a judge in Cali refused to dismiss the accusations. 

So, this is likely a case that will go on long past this last blog piece about Uber and DoorDash. What the outcome will be is anyone’s guess, though it seems likely that either DoorDash will pay a settlement to Uber for losses, or the two will work together to make new changes to how delivery services compete with one another. 

The latter is the likeliest of all, even if DoorDash has to ultimately hold their nose. Still, they might win on a few points, despite being more vulnerable due to already dominating the market. What’s truly best here is more scrutiny on all companies like this on how they work with restaurants. I mean, new restaurants are already vulnerable to their own competition, making any changes a domino effect in helping them. 

Antitrust suits are already becoming more common in the corporate world. No matter if this doesn’t create massive change in the bigger picture, creating more awareness of how big companies compete is an important business practice. It’s obviously needed, especially with major corporations acquiring other corporations at a record pace—creating constant anticompetitive concerns.

Nevertheless, you have to wonder if Uber and DoorDash will ultimately merge at some point based on the amount of major acquisitions in America. While I’m not a fan of seeing every corporation consolidate to just a few power players, seeing Uber and DoorDash merge looks good to me. It’d be the joining of two companies that provide an important service to people, if needing a lot of refinement in how it’s managed.

A merge as the answer to the antitrust suit would also help bring about a precedence in making food delivery all about people rather than making them automated with AI. The chances of food delivery becoming run by self-driving vehicles or robots seems like the next dark evolution on our planet. 

Uber and DoorDash helped me make some good money over a certain period of time. They still help any person have the freedom to deliver food/drink and make money whenever they want—as imperfect as it is. The same applies to local restaurants who struggle to find avenues to being noticed.

This segue takes me to a final note here. The blog piece you’re reading is now the finale of my Uber Eats/DoorDash blog journey. Starting soon, this space will be devoted to The Human Project, my new writing movement in finding answers to the problem of AI taking away human jobs and creativity.

As that starts, all 40 chapters of this current blog will still be archived here so you can make Uber Eats and/or DoorDash a successful side gig for yourself. They’re still worth doing with a lifelong and proper life guide as a textual companion. 

/End

Chapter XXXVIII: The Top Demographics of Uber Eats and DoorDash Customers

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It’s sometimes hard to tell exactly who you’re delivering to when doing Uber Eats and DoorDash, simply because not all customers physically present themselves to you. Even when you do hand off a bag of food to someone, it may be just one person giving you thanks. And that may assume you’re delivering to a single person who prefers to stay in rather than face traffic or other people.

Well, that lone person you delivered to may just be the matriarch or patriarch of a large family. The other family members may not be home yet. I’m saying this based on recent research I did on what the most prominent demographics are in ordering food via Uber or DoorDash. The reveal on this was a bit surprising when ordering food to eat at home seemed like a valid form of single life.

As you begin or continue your Uber Eats/DoorDash delivery adventures, you might want to know who you’re now delivering to since some orders may be larger than expected. This doesn’t necessarily mean a single person eating the equivalent of three dinners out of depression.

The Single Person vs. The Family

Based on my recent research, it’s said that families are now the leading demographic in most food delivery customers. This surprised me at first based on my own experiences delivering DoorDash and Uber orders for two years. It seemed the majority of my own customers were singles in the immediate post-COVID times when I delivered.

But it’s often hard to tell who’s really in a household. While it may appear that one person is home and takes the order at their door, there may be a slew of others living there. They may not be home yet—hence why the seeming single woman or guy taking the bag at the door fools you.

The old jokes used to be that a robed young woman who answered the door to take your order was a single person sending some kind of subtle signal. No doubt many male Uberers and Dashers have had the fantasy of being invited inside with a flirtatious single girl. Ditto goes for female deliverers delivering to what appears to be single guys.

Reality is a different story, and the above really just occurs based on watching too many movies, TikTik videos, or hearing second-hand stories. After my research, I came to the conclusion that all those seemingly single women answering the door when I delivered were really hiding a boyfriend, and possibly a huge family somewhere in the house. 

All the more real is the state of the American economy nowadays and why families would be the most likely DoorDash recipients. With many in a family working multiple jobs to stay above water, the actual family members are probably not home until evening or later. No doubt one person in the family stays home, or still just works from home. They’re the ones who I likely encountered taking the order. However, there were just as many “Leave At Door” orders as ones who took the bag from me. 

One thing I noticed is there were definitely more people at home when I delivered in the late evening hours. Those usually involved larger orders, so there was clearer evidence of families being the center of late evening customers. 

What about those lighter orders, though? About 75% of the orders I’d deliver were single bag items—giving me the thought singles were really the leading DoorDash demographic.

DoorDash Fragmentation in Families

It’s not always easy to tell what a leading demographic is in food delivery since so many circumstances are unique. For instance, many of my colleagues at Amazon (where I work full-time) order in food from DoorDash or Uber Eats. This gives the appearance that it’s a single individual ordering food when it’s just someone from an ordinarily large family ordering lunch or dinner in to their workplace. 

The same might be said if someone’s visiting at another house with a friend or relative. Maybe my deliveries were an exception, but it still seemed a lot of people I delivered to were singles. I basically surmised this based on one car in the driveway and the size of the house. Nevertheless, I do know that many families are more fragmented than ever. One member of a family is just as likely to order in DoorDash for themselves while everyone else eats/drinks something else.

In my mind, this is the real truth in the demographic debate. And, yeah, it’s also depressing since it means that a lot of families aren’t sitting at the dinner table together anymore. The kids may be off eating their DoorDash orders in their rooms while the parents eat together in the living room—or even going out to eat.

This isn’t to say I didn’t pick up bigger orders fully intended for a family dinner. These were very rare, though, and they were usually for parties at businesses or at someone’s home. I also found out that delivering twenty pizzas to said large groups can fog up all of your car windows—or, particularly, in a more compact Kia. 

All told, delivering larger orders is more challenging than delivering single-bag items. You have to juggle more drinks on sometimes flimsy cup holders. Plus, having to carry six large bags usually required having to make three trips back and forth from the restaurant to my car. The single orders are so much more convenient, and I reiterate they were the majority of my orders over the above two-year period.

Are More Women Ordering DoorDash Than Men?

Other stats are showing that women slightly outdo males in ordering Uber Eats and/or DoorDash the most often. And, most of those women & men are Gen Z/Millennials. This can tell you a little more about your customer reality. When you look at other recent American stats, more women are staying single, or single mothers with kids. 

Even more interesting is families who make under $25,000 per year are ordering the most often, probably because going to restaurants or buying ingredients in stores are far too expensive. One could also guess that all those reports of customers accusing deliverers of not delivering orders (when they did) are low-income people with sad attempts to get their money back after ordering food.

However, some higher-income families are ordering more in urban and suburban environments. They’re apparently spending the most on DoorDash and perhaps your most likely customers. I still think there’s variations to this, though, and the stats aren’t necessarily showing the reality of how separated families are. 

The illusion of unity in a household is possibly more singles living all together in one house to save money due to chronic economic uncertainty. Yes, the true way to have more money to order DoorDash frequently.

In Part XXXIX, I’m going to look at the recent concept by Uber Eats to deliver fresh groceries at a discount to their customers. Will those customers really save money on groceries, or is it better to just visit a local, bargain grocery outlet without Muzak playing in the background?

/End

Part XXXI: Delivering From or To Adult Stores When Doing Uber Eats/DoorDash

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Just about every town or city has an adult store, and that’s usually plural. They’ve been around, legally, for decades throughout America, with many questions and rumors still permeating about what really goes on in those shops. While always talked about by many, let’s not forget they’re run by human beings who also need food & drink delivered to them after, uh, working long hours. And you might even find some rare times when you have to deliver an item from one of them.

For the record: I’ve never picked up a sex toy to be delivered to someone—or at least that I was aware. I’ve seen sex toys and dolls in sealed boxes while working at Amazon, btw. Regardless, I’ve heard stories about people picking up sex toys to be delivered to someone as another category to miscellaneous deliveries.

What I have experienced, officially, is delivering to several adult stores. The big question is: Would you want to pick up from or deliver to one of these stores? Not everyone is going to be ok with such a thing. 

My first time delivering to one allowed me to see the inside inventory in all its glory. Let me tell you what you might experience and how to go about it in the right way without embarrassment if you suddenly find yourself there.

Would You Pick Up a Sex Toy Order for Delivery?

According to my research, there haven’t been a lot of deliveries like this. But it’s not that it hasn’t happened once in a while. Some people buy naughty items through sources like Walgreens (a place I picked up from quite often), plus pharmacies. In many of those pick-up scenarios, I never saw what was in the boxes. Walgreens was especially secretive on what I was picking up for a customer.

Apparently some adult stores have worked with DoorDash to get things delivered to people fast. Rather than wait several days for a mail delivery (or going in person), some people want their vibrators—now. 

I still remind you that I delivered a lot of miscellaneous items when doing Uber and DoorDash. If I ever delivered an adult toy, it must have been with the “unknown” packages. My guess is Walgreens is where it must have happened if it ever did—namely because they have a pharmacy there. They likely offer various things not openly showcased directly in the store.

While the evidence is there such deliveries have happened for some people, finding out that’s what you’re delivering brings a lot of questions. Would I have delivered a sex toy or related item had I known this is what I was picking up?

I probably would have since nothing was off-limits for me, as long as it paid decently. You have to imagine if someone wants any of those products immediately, they’re willing to pay extra or a large tip to get it to them. 

Yeah, when it comes to human satiation, food and sex are likely #1 and #2 for a lot of individuals. When someone’s in the mood, they’re in the mood, regardless if it’s also Popeye’s chicken.

The bigger question is whether someone like you would deliver a sex toy with the knowledge you were delivering that very thing. I know a lot of people, and I’d say it’d be half against and another half who wouldn’t have any problem. 

Always live up to your own ethics when it comes to what you deliver with Uber Eats and DoorDash. If you’re under 18 or delivering with your kids, it’s probably a good idea to stick with the food without having to answer a lot of questions. If you’re a couple working together—well, it may be one of the best scenarios. The customer seeing a couple delivering their sex toy may go over better than a single guy or woman.

Would You Deliver Food to an Adult Shop?

You might face the same dilemmas delivering to an adult shop, even if it’s more inevitable if you decide to deliver food & drink. During my two years doing Uber Eats and DoorDash, they’d occasionally have me deliver to other businesses that might be deemed controversial by some.

For the most part, it was delivering to cannabis shops, something that seemed apropos considering even the owners and clerks get the munchies. Delivering to those places never bothered me in the least, though there was always the scent of weed in the air when going in to deliver.

But then, one day, I got a delivery order to Eva’s Boutique, a popular lingerie and sex toy store franchise here in the Oregon valley. This was a standard McDonald’s order, though had never delivered food to an adult store at any time prior. The initial thought was, it’d be no big deal since I’d certainly been around these products before—if not in a retail environment.

You always think you won’t be embarrassed going to an adult store—until people start seeing you park by the door. Being a straight guy, people in the periphery seeing me park at Eva’s offered up a few curious stares. And, naturally, it had to be right next to a busy street here in Salem, Oregon where anyone I might know could easily see me go in.

As with most businesses, I thought it’d be an easy delivery, as in leaving it at the front counter. Yet, once inside, it appeared there wasn’t anyone around. The woman clerk was busy helping a couple interested in the lingerie inventory in the back of the store. This required me to walk through all the aisles to hand the McDonald’s bag to the recipient.

Winding through the aisles enabled me to see nearly every item in the store, including a little detour through the vibrator section. Yes, that also brought on a few interesting side eyes from other customers inside, mostly women.

I finally found the clerk inside. She let out a slight giggle as she saw me standing there, next to an aisle of lubricants while offering her the McDonald’s bag. It was the ultimate clash of Americana in one little store. Instead of handing the bag to her, though, she told me to set it over on a nearby counter. 

And out I went, adding another line to my DoorDash delivery experiences. This happened a few other times afterward, albeit being much quicker by dropping off right by the door. Since then, I’ve always wondered how many other DoorDash customers have had similar experiences and how they reacted.

Here’s my advice: Always stay professional and don’t act flustered or embarrassed. You’re going to encounter a lot of interesting places and situations when you do Uber Eats and DoorDash, so always act like you’ve already seen it all. Perhaps you already have if you’re grown up enough.

On the other hand, you might have to explain away delivering to other places, as I had to. After delivering food once to a fertility clinic to help women get pregnant, I had to tell a co-worker why I was going in there after being seen. 

If you have to explain to a family member, friend, or co-worker why you were seen by them going into an adult store, it’s best to have some ID on you proving you deliver for DoorDash. In that regard, I almost wish DoorDash would send business cards to prove you work for something nearly resembling the CIA.

In Part XXXII, I’ll be looking at the problem of paying self-employment taxes when working for Uber Eats & DoorDash. If income taxes are abolished (under President Trump), would it increase those who want to deliver food to the public? 

/End

Press Release for New e-Book: “Thirty Life Guide Steps to Success Doing Uber Eats & DoorDash”

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This little blog aside is to let all readers know that the prior thirty parts/chapters/segments of my Uber Eats/DoorDash series are now compiled into an e-book on the Amazon Kindle Store. Titled “Thirty Life Guide Steps to Success Doing Uber Eats & DoorDash”, it describes exactly what you’ve read before—that is, a life angle to delivering food & drink to the public in the best and most profitable way.

Each segment is now a short “chapter”, albeit re-edited and re-purposed to make it a perennial guide. It retains the somewhat comedic and (hopefully) entertaining qualities, while still being a truly useful reference to help you make some extra money.

The e-book is strictly made to read on Amazon Kindle devices, though will offer a paperback edition if I have enough requests to. Kindle Publishing makes it easy to get the book out there in several different formats without them charging you a cent. Well, part of the residuals still go to them as a payback.

Priced at just $2.99, I promise you you’ll make at least $100 per day (if not more) after reading all my stand-alone tips. At the same time, you can use it as a general way to approach life in a smart way as you work-hustle.   

As you may have noticed, I’ve made private (for now) all the prior blog segments that went into the e-book. I’ll be making them available soon just for subscribers on the blog. And the blog will continue in a public format, starting with Part XXXI. I’ve also made Part XXX (Chapter 30 in the book) public as a preview. 

The topics I’ll be covering over the next 30 segments are going to broaden in their categories, including being more honest on things. My look at DoorDash and Uber Eats currently comes from an observer standpoint, if still an occasional direct participant. I also still have plenty to say and reveal about my past experiences.

By March of this year (2025), I plan to make the entire blog a subscription-based operation. This may be delayed due to other commitments, but expect that change before long. I’ll be doing this by upgrading my WordPress account to allow for monetization and a subscription service.

I encourage you to take a look at the e-book, something that gives you a comprehensive, unique approach to taking on Uber Eats and DoorDash. It’s a guide you can’t find too many other places, even on DoorDash’s own blog. 

See you all again soon with Part XXXI where I address picking up from and/or delivering items to—yes, adult stores.