In the last two posts I have looked at examples of autonomous vehicles that can be used on public roads. The two examples I have discussed are the DARPA Urban Challenge and Google’s autonomous vehicles. Both of these involve fully autonomous vehicles either driving in a simulated environment or with human supervision on public roads. Although the technology needs to be perfected it still raises some interesting questions.
One of the biggest that comes to mind is how good is good enough? How reliable and safe will these vehicles need to be before they are allowed to be used without close supervision? The most logical answer is when robots are better drivers then people but that may not be good enough. I would see this more as the minimum requirement where the real answer depends on the public’s perception of the technology. Even if on average it’s safer than human controlled cars if people don’t see it as safer then it can’t be used.
Another possibility which could help with this issue is that the technology being slowly implemented using semi-autonomous vehicles. In other words, the car and the driver would be working together. Examples of this can already be seen today with features such as automatic parking and lane drift warning systems. Even cruise control and automatic transmission could be considered examples. This would provide time for people to get used to the idea of automated vehicles being on the road. However, even with a gradual transition there is still the jump from the driver being ultimately responsible to the car being fully autonomous and a driver no longer needed.
Or perhaps we will never be willing to give up control.
I’ve been anxiously awaiting the day when I can take a nap on the way home from work. I have 100% confidence that a robot can drive better than most of the people out there. It would take a while for the car to be fully automated, I would imagine the driver would still have to do less “normal” driving maneuvers like turning left at a solid green light etc. And I know some people love to drive and have control of their car, but for the everyday commuter drive, I think many people would be in favor of this technology. I hope it is implemented before I retire.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine a world where the human was removed completely from driving. I say we focus on teleportation. I feel if we slowly adapt it is possible to have more features controlled by robots like automatic parallel parking, but never a system with complete robotic control of the vehicle.
ReplyDeleteI think people will really be afraid to give up control of their vehicles, which is maybe why the European experiment is a good idea--if you have a lot of vehicles in line all doing the same thing, maybe the driver feels more secure that there is a larger system at work. But it's terrifying to imagine the car doing something it shouldn't and knowing you're going to have an accident and you can't stop it. I would guess that's what most people would fear.
ReplyDeleteYour videos frequently cover up your text--you may want to add in some spacing and then check your preview before posting.