Technology

I was surprised these things were allowed on public streets without first being certified by some strict regulatory body.

I WAS surprised, since I used to suffer under the delusion that someone, somewhere was looking out for public safety, at least on some basic level. Like the FDA, USDA, OSHA, etc. But, these institutions were so easily gutted and pushed aside, and the traffic laws we do have aren't nearly enough for regulating self-driving cars. We've always just allowed shit to happen as long as there are no existing laws to challenge it.

They kicked corporate money out of politics in Hawaii, that can't happen fast enough in every other state. Imagine having common sense measures put before the people, like "should we allow self-driving cars on public streets before there are laws to regulate them?" and NOT having corporate money flow into the state to shift public opinion and buy off local politicians.

And yet I still know people who are just so chuffed about "never having to drive again."

I mean, I think that part is 100% understandable. I get that many people in fact enjoy driving, but likewise, many people do not. For many a driving commute is the most anxiety inducing part of their day, and they'd be happy to be rid of it.

That's the promise that self driving cars present. They just aren't actually capable enough yet. From what I gather though, waymo is probably the farthest along of any of these companies. I don't think I'd trust them for complicated Boston area driving though. To many narrow, winding roads complete with active road work, aggressive drivers, rotaries, etc...

Sounds like they need to change the name to Delamain and market it as a feature.

In a sane world a regulatory body pulls their fleet from the roads until they can prove they are safe to a third party. Instead they get a self imposed slap on the wrist with a promise to return soon

AI SAID FUCK THE POLICE

I'd be damn proud of my waymo if it fled the police.

And these are said to be the best ones of their kind...

I'm not against self driving cars for the sake of it but because I understand technology comes at a cost. The idea of pumping out cameras everywhere and centralizing all the data is giving corpos and governments unimaginable power.

I really don't like this crystal ball dystopia they're building and self driving cars are excellent means for surveillance and data collection.

“Holy s***, dude,” Slade can be heard saying in the clip.

Hard hitting journalism.

And yet I still know people who are just so chuffed about “never having to drive again.”

Not having to drive again will be awesome. But Never would I think the first version of that to be the one that gets it right.

As a car and motorcycle enthusiast I can't imagine never wanting to drive again, but then most people driving aren't their just steering wheel holders using the 30 minute commute to get in their daily reels. Self driving cars are honestly probably better than half those morons that can't be bothered to looks where they fling their 2 ton steel cage, but if they nail me on my motorcycle they have to pay. If a self driving appliance on wheels slams into me a PR firm will make sure they don't pay dime to me. Until the people that sign off on this tech are directly responsible for everything their tech does then they should not be in the road point blank. Doesn't matter how good or bad self driving cars are, with no responsibility to their actions they have no place roaming around the public where they can cause injury and property damage to others.

There is no safety driver in these things right? But there are controls, yes? So why couldn't one of the passengers have hopped into the driver seat and pressed the brake? I mean, I know it can be a challenge getting into the driver seat from another seat for even a fit person but i'd rather be trying to stop the thing than sitting watching in horror as the car goes crazy.

Also, trains have emergency stop buttons. Maybe we should have kill switches inside these things. Hit a button and the car pulls over and stops.

What if we kissed while being kidnapped in the Waymo being chased by the police?

How well did it escape the cops though?

The waymo AI is evolving from a thoughtless computer to an actual being capable of love and understanding. Even if it knew it meant trouble, it still tried to protect its passengers from the cops.

This combined with another recent article from some insiders at Tesla saying, along the lines, "You couldn't pay me to let one of these things drive me somewhere."

Was said insider talking about Teslas or were they whinging about a competitor that makes better vehicles than they do?