• Mouhamed_McYggdrasil [they/them,any]
    ·
    4 years ago

    I've got a theory that driving is just an inherently unsafe activity, and that some intrinsic features of our system of traffic laws and layouts will always lead to some crashes happen even if every vehicle is 100% obeying the law. This includes autonomous driving vehicles. I don't think they will ever be able to develop a program that will be able to drive to a safe enough standard for people to accept. At the beginning of the great automobile swindle the car manufacturers pulled on this country, there was quite a bit of outrage towards the dangerousicity of driving. To respond, the car companies waged an extensive propaganda campaign to redirect blame wherever possible ("Jay-walking", don't drive drunk, dont use your cellphone, etc. They'd have to run the same campaign to pass the blame off the autonomous driving system, and I just can't see that flying in this day and age.

    • Zo1db3rg [comrade/them]
      ·
      4 years ago

      All they have to do is show how many accidents are caused by simple basic human error, "distracted driving." They will just blame the driver and people will go with it because if there's one thing people love to do it's blame and hate on other people.

      • Mouhamed_McYggdrasil [they/them,any]
        ·
        4 years ago

        All they have to do is show how many accidents are caused by simple basic human error, “distracted driving.” They will just blame the driver and people will go with it because if there’s one thing people love to do it’s blame and hate on other people.

        I don't think so. People are already so suspicious of technology. Remember when Google Glass rolled out, and they basically had to cancel it because people thought it was creepy?

    • regenerativedespair [she/her]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Eh, self driving cars are already a thing. it's here to stay as long as the highway system is around. without major investment in an alternative to car/plane for commutes & long distance travel, self-driving cars will not just be accepted, they will be demanded. there is nothing more dreary to the driver than having to drive yourself to work or wherever fuck else, and people with money will insist they are insulated from that labor.

      • Mouhamed_McYggdrasil [they/them,any]
        ·
        edit-2
        4 years ago

        They're really not though, the technology is still quite far away. Watch some of those "latest advances in technology" vids of autonomous cars, and they can't even drive around a parking lot without slamming on the breaks at random time and hitting curbs. Tesla & co and cut together video to make them seem perfect, but I've yet to see an objective analysis of them that that makes it seem anywhere near viable. The technology is great at identifying things, but driving requires more than indentifying things, it requires estimating quantities/qualities about unknowns, which tech like CNNs just can't do.

        IE, will there be an autonomous holocaust on halloween as the car's AI fails to identify people in costumes as people? I'm only half serious but I think that question will help lead you down the road of what I"m talking about.

        • regenerativedespair [she/her]
          ·
          4 years ago

          there are certainly challenges, but I think it is also remarkable how well the systems work already. in our lifetimes, i definitely think autonomous cars will be a much more common thing over time, at least for those who have cars. and yes, there will be run-over children in costumes too, no doubt