Video How Ubiquitous Autonomous Cars Could Affect Society (Video) 369
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We talked with Peter Wayner about autonomous cars on June 5. He had a lot to say on this topic, to the point where we seem to be doing a whole series of interviews with him because autonomous cars might have a lot of unanticipated effects on our lives and our economy. Heck, Peter has enough to say about driverless cars to fill a book, Future Ride, which we hope he finishes editing soon because we (Tim and Robin) want to read it. While that book is brewing, watch for some thoughts on how autonomous cars (and delivery vans) might affect us in the near future.
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Obviously (Score:5, Insightful)
The cars become self-aware at 2:14am on August 29. In a panic, we try and pull their plugs.
The rest pretty much follows.
PS: Slashdot, video "articles" suck.
Re:So long truckers (Score:5, Insightful)
It's also the end of one of the most dangerous jobs in modern society. Would you cry if someone fully automated coal mining?
A great deal of mass is devoted to driver safety (Score:4, Insightful)
But that defense is necessary because of the bad decisions of the driver and the other drivers. If all the vehicles were automated and under guidance, then we might be able to substantially reduce the cost and fuel requirements of vehicles.
If people are not driving, then the urge to stamp on the accelerator and/or the break is not there either. You get in, set your destination, and when you get there you get there. I have not read any analysis, but I think a lot of money could be saved. Also, maybe the car would need less windows? Enabling better a/c efficiency.
Re:grand father laws? (Score:4, Insightful)
You can still ride a horse, just don't expect to be able to ride it down the middle of the freeway. Generation one automated cars will be safer than human drivers, by the end of that generation having automated driving will get you an insurance discount. Gen 2 will have cars that have accidents only in extreme nearly unavoidable circumstances, driving your car on manual will require special insurance that will cost significantly more than the standard. Gen 3 will move toward doing away with road laws as we understand them. The rules will be created ad-hoc in real time based on information provided by the road and the cars themselves. The flexibility this affords will make traffic jams virtually unheard of and significantly improve fuel efficiency and travel time, but driving a car on manual in that world would be borderline suicidal. At that point, the old timers who insist will have to take their classic cars to the race track or equivalent.
Re:So long truckers (Score:4, Insightful)
Arguably, people are quite bad at handling the circumstance you mentioned.
With the proper road traction sensors, and gyro sensors, the robot can handle that condition cooly within 5% of failure, where a human will fluctuate wildly between 50% under and 20% over failure, causing all sorts of unintended consequences.
But I admit that is an end-state, and the development of this technology will be challenging.
Re:Honest Question: (Score:5, Insightful)
Hitting a pedestrian is pretty easy to detect at any speed. Why would it continue driving?
This is not a corner case this is something that is known from the beginning and planned for.
Humans do not logically deal with unexpected events. Note all the old geezers driving into buildings or people pulling into oncoming traffic to avoid rear ending the car in front of them instead of pulling onto the shoulder. Humans in general are terrible at logical reactions to unexpected conditions.
Re:So long truckers (Score:4, Insightful)
If you are paying 200-600 a month you do not own a car. That is when the bank owns the car and you are buying it in installments.
That depends on your definition of "own". Once you sign the paperwork car is yours to do what you want with it - in general the financing company is not going to look over your shoulder and keep you from modifying it. You can drill a hole in the roof and add an antenna. You can drill a dozen holes in the trunk and add a spoiler. You can add a lift kit or a lowering kit (or both and let them cancel out).
The bank may hold the title until you pay off the car, but the car is still yours for all intents and purposes.
This is much different than a lease where you'll be expected to return the car back to a sellable condition at the end of the lease. (or pay the leasing company to do it).