Ankur Kumar, a delivery partner with Blinkit in Noida, works a minimum of 12 hours a day, six days a week. On days when he still has energy left, his work stretches to 15 hours. Kumar is unaware though that just 50 km away, in Gurgaon, drones are now delivering the same groceries and medicines he does—faster, and at a much cheaper rate.

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On most days, the odometer on Kumar's two-wheeler clocks between 100 and 180 km. For each delivery, he earns a base pay of Rs 15 for a trip within a km, and Rs 10-14 for every extra km. Reports suggest drones are doing the same work for just Rs 4 a km.

While artificial intelligence (AI) replacing white-collar jobs is widely talked about, what often goes unnoticed is how AI-driven automation threatens workers like Kumar, part of India's 12-million-strong gig workforce, which is also vulnerable.

The proverbial meteor that killed the dinosaurs isn't lurking just in the air for India's unskilled gig workers, 12 million and growing. Amazon has begun automating warehouse operations in the US to reduce staff strength—a shift likely to reach India in over a decade. From delivery partners to dark store workers, millions of low-skill roles are vulnerable.

For Kumar and others like him, the threat isn't only from machines, but also from people. India's gig workforce is expected to double from 12 million to 23.5 million by 2030, according to Niti Aayog—making every worker more replaceable than before.

Ankur Kumar drives as much as 3,000 to 5,400 km per month—roughly the distance from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and back. The problem is, though Kumar is moving, he isn't going anywhere.