Will Self-Driving Cars Be Able to Handle... Bears? (forbes.com) 88
A wild bear broke into a parked car looking for food. This set AI pundit Lance Eliot a-thinking...
The AI driving system of a self-driving car is always intact. A parked self-driving car is immediately able to become a moving car.... If the self-driving car is making use of its object detection system, even though the autonomous vehicle is parked, the AI driving capability would be alerted at [a hypothetical] pending crash that is about to occur... Depending upon what the AI developers anticipated, the AI driving system might activate the self-driving car and attempt to quickly drive away from the converging human-driven car.
For most makers of self-driving cars, this is an obscure "edge" case. But Eliot imagines a world where a self-driving car is parked next to a forest... The human hiker has left the autonomous vehicle and has trekked somewhere deep in the woods. A bear meanders into the parking lot, looking for a free meal. If the AI driving system is using its object detection features, the bear would likely be detected. When the bear decides to wander directly toward the self-driving car, the AI driving system might activate the autonomous vehicle and drive away from the bear.
It is unclear if the bear will somehow divine that the self-driving car is capable of moving on its own accord... After a while, it seems plausible to suggest that bears will be concerned that those free meal containers (on wheels) seem to move away upon the bear approaching. This will possibly discourage some bears and they will steer clear of parked cars. Other bears might turn this into a game. Kind of hide-and-seek, of sorts. Approach a car, it moves away. Fun! Walk over to the car and see which way it goes next. A grand old time in the parking lot, that's for sure.
And as long as we're telling shaggy bear stories... The odds are that self-driving cars will be designed differently on the interior than are conventional human-driven cars. For example, there is no need for a steering wheel and nor any need for the pedals. Those will no longer be included. The interior is opened up to allow for perhaps swiveling seats, possibly reclining seats so that you can sleep on a long journey inside a self-driving car. Given that type of interior, the bear is bound to find things a lot more comfortable inside a self-driving car than a conventional human-driven car. The next thing you know, bears will fall in love with self-driving cars, doing so because it is a quiet, spacious, and secure place to rest and relax. No need to worry about predators getting at the bear while relishing the plush and roomy interior....
A second question is whether the bears might figure out how to communicate with the AI driving system. You know, bears are pretty sharp. Perhaps a truly enterprising bear could convince the AI to take the bear for a cozy ride while inside the self-driving car.
Don't be especially surprised if you start to see bears riding around in self-driving cars.
And please remember, you heard about it here, first.
For most makers of self-driving cars, this is an obscure "edge" case. But Eliot imagines a world where a self-driving car is parked next to a forest... The human hiker has left the autonomous vehicle and has trekked somewhere deep in the woods. A bear meanders into the parking lot, looking for a free meal. If the AI driving system is using its object detection features, the bear would likely be detected. When the bear decides to wander directly toward the self-driving car, the AI driving system might activate the autonomous vehicle and drive away from the bear.
It is unclear if the bear will somehow divine that the self-driving car is capable of moving on its own accord... After a while, it seems plausible to suggest that bears will be concerned that those free meal containers (on wheels) seem to move away upon the bear approaching. This will possibly discourage some bears and they will steer clear of parked cars. Other bears might turn this into a game. Kind of hide-and-seek, of sorts. Approach a car, it moves away. Fun! Walk over to the car and see which way it goes next. A grand old time in the parking lot, that's for sure.
And as long as we're telling shaggy bear stories... The odds are that self-driving cars will be designed differently on the interior than are conventional human-driven cars. For example, there is no need for a steering wheel and nor any need for the pedals. Those will no longer be included. The interior is opened up to allow for perhaps swiveling seats, possibly reclining seats so that you can sleep on a long journey inside a self-driving car. Given that type of interior, the bear is bound to find things a lot more comfortable inside a self-driving car than a conventional human-driven car. The next thing you know, bears will fall in love with self-driving cars, doing so because it is a quiet, spacious, and secure place to rest and relax. No need to worry about predators getting at the bear while relishing the plush and roomy interior....
A second question is whether the bears might figure out how to communicate with the AI driving system. You know, bears are pretty sharp. Perhaps a truly enterprising bear could convince the AI to take the bear for a cozy ride while inside the self-driving car.
Don't be especially surprised if you start to see bears riding around in self-driving cars.
And please remember, you heard about it here, first.
What utter nonsense! (Score:2)
Elon Musk needs to program Tesla's AI to recognize the look and sound of a bear, and to play a bear "alert" noise to cause the bruin to run away.
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"alert" noise to cause the bruin to run away.
Bruins play too much beer pong for that to work.
Re:What utter nonsense! (Score:4)
TFA assumes that a parked SDC will start up and move to avoid a collision.
That is false. SDCs don't do that. The rest of TFA is just stupidity based on that false premise.
Look, cars have autonomously driven more than five BILLION miles. We don't need wild conjectures about how they would theoretically behave. We can look at how they actually behave. It is called "reality-based reasoning".
No, bears are not a real problem for SDCs.
Re: What utter nonsense! (Score:2)
Whoever wrote it thinks they are a genius who's found a loophole that means they can dress up as a bear and herd self-driving cars into their free range reservation for abused AI.
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I believe this article was supposed to be sequestered for release on the first of April.
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How many have had bears enter the self driving car? Bears entering vehicles is somewhat common around here, the worst cases are when the door shuts after they enter and the bear rips the interior apart. Then there's the fun of opening the door for the bear to leave.
Hopefully self driving cars will be smarter about locking themselves up then people are at locking their cars, though sometimes the bear will break the window to enter.
A search such as https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Bear... [duckduckgo.com] shows lots of examples such
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No, bears are not a real problem for SDCs.
Yes, but what about a group of drunk Chicago Bears linemen staggering down the street and bouncing off of parked, sentient, SDCs. Would they all start up and try moving away?
TFA makes no sense. Even without ridiculous what ifs, SDCs when parked should not be designed to react and move when pedestrians (even bears) are out and about nearby.
I just hope (Score:3, Funny)
This ALL comes true.
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You mean the right to arm bears?
Imagine the bear armed with a Tesla.
Whatever you think about wildlife it's going to put a spanner into the works when it comes to technology because there's always a new case.
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Imagine the bear armed with a Tesla.
Or with a Yugo. A Yugo Bear, if you will...
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Meanwhile in Russia. [geeksandgamers.com]
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That's the more important question, when you think about it.
Will the bears be able to hande self-driving cars?
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Will the bears be able to hande self-driving cars?
They have household appliances [youtube.com] figured out.
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IN SOVIET RUSSIA, shotgun rides YOU!
caps are like yelling caps are like yelling caps are like yelling
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That would be a Boo Boo.
the other type of bears are armed and sometime air (Score:2)
the other type of bears are armed and sometime there are in the air
Re:I just hope (Score:5, Funny)
This ALL comes true.
A bear costume and I'll never be short of a parking space again. Can't wait to try this at the mall parking lot, it will be like Moses parting the sea.
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Just stop shaving.
dogs (Score:3)
What about dogs? I have a 90lb dog. He can probably touch the door handle to open it, nudge the door open with his nose, and jump in. Dog park here we come! Woof!
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Teslas already HAVE a "dog mode", that runs the A/C to keep the cabin cool on hot days, so that Fido doesn't die of heat. Or cold.
https://www.notateslaapp.com/t... [notateslaapp.com]
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I'm programming a voice command, using my dog's bark (speak! good boy!), he is getting "dog park mode". After the car parks at the dog park the window opens so he can get out, then the car waits in dog mode so he is comfy when he gets hungry and wants to come home.
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Summary provides yet more evidence (Score:5, Insightful)
That anyone who calls himself a "pundit" on a topic should be summarily ignored. Has Forbes turned into Medium? I'm assuming this was some sort of unsolicited blog post...
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He's a-thinking very hard, but he didn't thunk of much yet.
Speculation (Score:3)
So that "AI pundit", has no idea how each specific self driving car works makes a speculation and then proceeds as though the speculation is established fact. What is he a republican?
Forget bears (Score:2)
Will the AI be able to move the car away from homeless bums looking for loot?
can you get DIU self-driving car with no controls (Score:1)
can you get an DIU in self-driving car with no controls?? the cops may clam that an app or touch screen is the controls. even if you are just sleeping it in with it on for heat.
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It likely depends on the exact wording in the law in your state. https://www.nolo.com/legal-enc... [nolo.com]
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You can already get charged with DUI for being in a parked car while asleep and drunk in the US.
Strong AI (Score:3)
Self-driving cars can't really work while they're merely pattern matching.
Something close to a Strong AI can probably learn to drive but right now they still mistake a rising harvest moon for a yellow light.
Not even a toddler would make that mistake yet people are trusting their lives to software dumber than somebody who's still in diapers.
I hope we get it right before I'm too old to drive. Thirty years or so.
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I hope we get it right before I'm too old to drive. Thirty years or so.
I'm happy to be alive while driving is still fun and glad I won't be here when it is no longer allowed.
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> They were supposed to be on the roads and available to the public years ago. They don’t work and never will
A driverless taxi service is operating for public passengers in Phoenix right now.
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We need strong AI for an autonomous car under the assumption that the solution is entirely located *in the car*, which has to navigate a system entirely designed around human capabilities.
But what if we could put some of that solution *in the road system* -- embedded in the road surface, in computer-friendly signage etc.? Couldn't we get there a lot sooner? A street signal is designed around the human ability to identify an object by *context*, something that takes strong AI to duplicate. But what if we
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Yes, that's feasible for certain closed-road situations, for example airports or other business premises or recreational places like golf courses, or potentially gated communities.
But as a general solution for public roads, it's a non-starter. Communities the world over aren't going to invest in this infrastructure. It becomes a chicken-and-egg situation.
Once driverless cars are ubiquitous, then the road systems will start to be designed with them as the primary users. But we're at least a decade away from
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I'd settle for freeways being designed for auto-automobiles. When I'm on a long drive, I could take a nap until the system wakes me up at the exit. If for some reason I don't respond to the system's wakeup call, it can pull over on the side until I do.
Plus the worst human drivers seem to be on the freeways, or at least they act the worst that way. (I suppose they must drive to the freeways, they just seem worse once they get there.) Idiots driving 90 mph, weaving in an out of traffic, tailgating if you'r
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Comparing self driving cars to humans like that is a bit like saying diggers will never replace men holding spades because diggers can't grip the handles properly.
For the foreseeable future AI won't beat humans on our home turf of an alert, well trained, well rested driver in good physical health and a good mental state in conditions that are familiar with. On the other hand the AI will never drive into oncoming traffic because it got drunk, was too tired, turned around to yell at its kids, started texting
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they only have to be less terrible than the median human driver.
They don't even need to be that good to be a net win.
They only need to be better than the driver they replace.
It is likely that people who are the worst drivers will be the first customers for an SDC.
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Actually, I suspect many of the worst drivers would be the last customers for an SDC.
More specifically, there are those who know they're bad--they flunked the drivers' license test three times, or some such. There are some of those people, and they will, as you suggest, welcome an SDC.
But the drivers I fear on the road aren't those people--they're the people who think they're Mario Andretti (or whoever the current equivalent is), and drive as fast as they can, weave around other cars so they can get a litt
Will Slashdot be Able to Handle... (Score:4)
more stupid stories like the one about self-driving cars and bears?
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Haven't you heard? Bears are the new cat videos. [youtube.com]
If the bear gets into the car (Score:2)
and the AI decides that the bear is hungry ... should it drive it to the nearest restaurant ?
This isn't April 1st (Score:2)
The only thing a bear should be able to do is set off the anti-theft system in its efforts to get into the car. The siren should be enough to deter most bears.
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I suspect you live somewhere without a real winter. For some of us, cars can be dangerously cold without running the heater for a few minutes. And their windshields can be ice coated, or even frost on the inside when people get inside and breathe if they're not warmed up first.
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Still doesn't mean you want to come back to discover your car has been driving all over the car park, draining the battery. That was my first thought anyway. I'm going to be very annoyed if I come back to my car to discover I don't have enough battery to get back home because its been running away from bears all day.
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I agree completely. I'm describing "on, but locked" to warm up the car, or to allow the AC to bring down the temperature for a short period if it's been sitting in the sun.
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While I can see a scenario where a car should start without you, send it to find a park and come and pick you up, however once parked it should be in an almost off state. Although the edge case of protecting your car from bears might seem slightly useful, the more likely scenario, of the battery being flat after a week in the bush, as your car running all its sensors, and trying to avoid random animals passing, is far more likely. Not to mention morons running at parked cars, getting them to move to "avoid"
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I'd agree that locking the vehicle, securing the windows, and setting the transmission to "park" are basic safety measures for a parked car. But I'd not call it "OFF" with the heater, air conditioner, or possibly radio or digital mapping in use. Would you?
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A parked car should be OFF. There is no reason for an autonomous car to be idling.
I bet nobody has ever thought of an autonomous car that could start itself. You should apply for a patent.
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I can only think of one reason for a car to need the ability to just wake up on its own and start moving. Having a car that has a timer to come fetch its passenger on a schedule might have its uses. But a car that wakes up and starts moving on its own simpl
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There is no reason for an autonomous car to be idling.
"Idling"? These systems will be on new cars, it's not likely they will have such a thing as "idling". That's not just electric cars. Various newer cars are coming with stop-start systems that automatically stop the engine instead of idling. My mother recently had a rental with a system like that. It was basically seamless. I'm pretty certain a lot of future ICE's will do that since it's a relatively cheap trick to improve gas mileage.
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EVs don't idle (although I think your post is otherwise correct).
Depends on another question (Score:2)
The answer to will a bear get a Tesla and drive somewhere, depends on an answer to another question...
Does a bear shit in a Tesla?
Don't do this in WA state (Score:2)
If you do that, you'll come back to a pile of glass on the ground and a ransacked car.
Bears driving cars (Score:2)
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Well, obviously no one who is remotely familiar with programming would dream of entrusting their safety - let alone their family's - to such a contraption.
Airliners and even fighters are much simpler use cases.
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Well, obviously no one who is remotely familiar with programming would dream of entrusting their safety - let alone their family's - to such a contraption.
Airliners and even fighters are much simpler use cases.
And they all have manual backups
If they can handle Americans.... (Score:3, Funny)
Then they can handle oversized, genetically lazy omnivores who spend months at a time parked in their den.
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Shuddup or I'll eat your children!
-An American.
Technology for Ursine Customers (Score:2)
And next you have this:
https://images-na.ssl-images-a... [ssl-images-amazon.com]
Don't click! (Score:1)
I couldn't bear to watch.
Tesla will add "Bear Mode" (Score:2)
A serious question (Score:2)
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Bears already have construction traffic [youtube.com] figured out.
What everybody avoid thinking about self-driving (Score:2)
Any decent driving AI that we could build in the next years will consume a LOT of energy. There is no way that could be let running while the car is parked.
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while the car is parked
Parked? With what the city is charging for parking, I'm going to pop into Starbucks and tell the car to circle the block until I'm ready to leave.
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Any decent driving AI that we could build in the next years will consume a LOT of energy. There is no way that could be let running while the car is parked.
For a parked car? That's a bit of an exaggeration isn't it? There are plenty of cheap (from a power perspective) ways to figure out if something is moving nearby and only ramp up the actual heavy computation when some threshold is crossed.
The AI should learn to evade the cops (Score:4)
That would boost sales.
Unbearable (Score:2)
The thing approaching the AV is irrelevant. Anything that approaches the AV that is not a passenger could trigger the vehicle to go into motion. Bear, criminal, shopping cart, whatever...
While this one is stupid, edge cases kill you (Score:3)
So what happens... (Score:2)
So what happens if you are in an area with no reception (you know, like the wilderness) and your car isn't where you left it because a bear chased it down the road?
another possibility (Score:3)
The bear gets in the back seat and falls asleep. Hiker returns, doesn't look in the back seat, starts driving off. Hiker looks in the rear view mirror...
Another scenario, made possible by the fact that you won't need a drivers' license to drive around in a self-driving car:
Papa hiker: "Someone's been driving in my car!"
Mama hiker: "Someone's been driving in my car!"
Baby hiker: "Someone's been driving in my car, and she's' in there now!"
April 1st? (Score:2)
Wow, it's April 1st already? Where does the time go?
Can't wait for the headlines (Score:1)
Low tech solution (Score:2)
Just use a Russian:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Kangaroos are a big problem for self-driving cars (Score:4, Interesting)
https://www.theguardian.com/te... [theguardian.com]
Just avoid the frickin deer please! (Score:2)
tldr but this humorist is bananas. How about avoiding deer? A real problem. I know people who have hit deer (and almost everyone in my state has had the experience of seeing a deer stopped in the roa looking at your oncoming beams at night) and it is an extremely dangerous, traumatic experience. I think I saw an ad showing some high end car with a thermal image of a deer but don't know if it was real or not.
I always wished for a car that could avoid them and this would have been a primary purchase deciding
Haha (Score:2)
Truly autonomous cars will not exist for at least 30 years. AI is just nowhere near good enough. Driving under "normal" circumstances, yeah, ok, within maybe 5 years. Add snow, nope.
Yogi? (Score:2)
A second question is whether the bears might figure out how to communicate with the AI driving system. You know, bears are pretty sharp.
It would have to be smarter than the average bear!
Horse, as Col Potter would say, hockey (Score:3)
Self-driving cars cannot handle city streets. With people and critters suddenly running out between parked cars. Or, my favorite example, the street near me with three narrow lanes, none marked, with one lane for parking, the street's two-ways, and, oh, yes, city buses go on it. Half the idiots with their oversized SUVs can handle that.
And before some moron goes on about cities, 80% of the US population live in metro areas.
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Cr
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Author (TFS?, TFA?) is an SF fan. (Score:2)