It’s your life. Be a passenger.
Whence comes this rush to robot cars? Did the public demand it? Or have our betters in the tech industry and in the bowels of the bureaucracy taken it upon themselves to correct our lamentable human failings and, in the name of “safety,” shove these vehicles down our throats?
Given that the progressive left and political power elite (I repeat myself) are joined at the hip with the tach companies, it doesn’t take too much imagination as to why they would want to force us all into self driving autos. And as such why they are ramming this through despite the obvious failings.
Hint. It has nothing to do with safety.
“Did the public demand it? Or have our betters in the tech industry and in the bowels of the bureaucracy taken it upon themselves to correct our lamentable human failings and, in the name of “safety,” shove these vehicles down our throats?”
Well, no one has had anything shoved down their throats in this regard, so I’m going with the idea that people want them. I certainly do. Driving will be safer and I can do productive stuff while being transported. Further, we can get rid of truck drivers for semis. That’ll reduce consts immensely.
“But, as yet, we do not have a system of internal passports, such as the Soviet Union did, nor is there any agency preventing you from getting in your car and driving the length of the continent should you so desire.
But just wait until you’re forced into a “driverless” car.”
Hilariously, and typical of conservatives, this author is dismissing the real threat of internal passports (REAL ID anyone?) and addressing the non-threat of being forced into autonomous cars. That bridge is one we’ll cross when we get to it but that’s a long ways off.
Self-driving cars are potentially the biggest single boost in human productivity since the invention of the steam engine. Deal with it.
This is their end game:
var cars = dbo.query(‘SELECT * FROM GOOGLE_USERS WHERE PROFILE = “Conservative”‘);
cars.forEach(car => car.crash );
The pedestrian murdered by the self-driving car was a test. Consider that “they” via your cellphone and other biometrics-to-come, will know exactly who is where and when. Certainly they can have a few “accidents” now and then? The plan is that our faithful media will determine if anyone really is served by hearing about it.
The real boon comes when we can FLY to where we want locally, by car or jetpack for personal use or drone for packages.
My guess would be the single biggest boost in human productivity would be the elimination of income taxes.
And it would be so easy to do too. Just shut down the entire military, end public education, and euthanize anyone over 60 or with any illness or injury. Done, no more income tax needed.
There are lot’s of ways to generate revenue other than ‘the income tax’. ‘End public education’. It’s probably more technically feasible to use AI to replace 99% of teachers than it is to replace drivers in cars, but it won’t happen because unions.
Kate, is this a contest? 1st prize is a rocket sled ride in an out-of-control ‘selfie’ on wheels?
does the anti-Christ know about all this techNOlogy?
jist askin’ . . . . .
There is a large part of the aging population who is relatively well off, but is facing possibility of LOSING THE DRIVING LICENCE and a almost all of their independence. This is the customer waiting impatiently for autonomous cars.
Agreed. Although with the immediate beginning of tariffs on all imports. It worked for the first 150 years of America…
The drive, as it were, for this is from municipal governments.
true, but to clarify, are you saying that, similar to countless other social engineering sit’ns, we must ALL kowtow to the new 64 bit master?
unmebot still hasn’t clued in about drunk driving in 3 dimensions.
The very BIRTH of our two nations was rooted in personal liberty, freedom, and self determination. Apparently it only took 16-20 generations for those urges to be purged from our DNA. So many Americans and Canadians willfully, and happily cede their autonomy (root pun intended) to a machine or remote human with a panic button. I admit it … I’m “too old” (I guess 60 is the new 80) to understand it.
But let’s cut the crap about calling me a Luddite, just because I have no interest in “getting out of my car”. I have been a consistent early-adopter of every bit of technology … that makes sense for my personal life. How many of you had a Tandy computer, replaced by an IBM PS2, replaced by a brightly colored iMac. I owned a PC before my employer did. I used Google search lonnnnng before anyone had heard the name. I currently stream HDX movies through an Oppo BluRay player onto my Pioneer Pro Elite Plasma monitor. My iPhone is up to date, and even my automobile has “connectivity”. I have a NEST thermostat and smoke/CO detector (cause they look kewl), most of my lights and outlets are “smart-enough” to be controlled from my iPhone and iPad. I use PayPal for most of my transactions.
But I have no interest in Facebook, Apple wristwatches, or getting-into a computer-controlled car. Because you see … I … will always be the one to control the technology … I will never allow the technology to control me. That is a bridge too far … to give up my humanity to a machine. Or worse, another human controlling that machine. Nope, I loathe mass transit. Avoid UBER – one too many sketchy driver.
So why would you climb into a robocar and take yourself hostage on purpose?
Indeed. Are we all now prophylacticly-seeking our own Stockholm syndrome? I’m no Patty Hearst … don’t know about you?
Can you imagine when the robot cars deliver their captive gawkers to the elimination camps. Don’t think so Unobraincell? Just wait and see.
Unbridled Power ALWAYS corrupts.
My thoughts on the subject are best expressed in an old Jim Croce song from more a responsible era.
Rapid Roy, that stock car boy, he’s too much to believe.
He’s always got a pack of cigarettes rolled up in his tee shirt sleeve.
He’s got a tattoo on his arm that says Baby, he’s got another one that just say HEY
And every weekend he’s a dirt track demon in his 57 Chevrolet.
Oh Roy’s so cool he’s no one’s fool
He don’t know what fear is all about
He’ll drive ’round the track at a hundred miles an hour with a toothpick in his mouth.
He’s got a girl back home name of Dixie-Dawn, but he’s got honeys all along the way.
And every weekend he’s a dirt track demon in his 57 Chevrolet.
Freedom is well worth fighting and dying for…end of subject.
Self-driving cars are potentially the biggest single boost in human productivity since the invention of the steam engine.
Right, a bunch of millennial lemmings playing video games and taking selfies while strapped into one of these things is really going to boost “productivity”. You go with that, because so much gets done on commuter trains, busses, taxis, and the back seats of car pools now.
I can do productive stuff while being transported.
Sure, as if that would make you start.
And let me add for clarity. I am not opposed to self-driving cars. They might actually be an improvement for some drivers. But … don’t EVER suggest that ONLY self-driving cars be allowed on our roads. THAT is my concern. THAT is my … reasonable … concern.
I have no use for an Apple Watch … but if you do? … knock yourself out enjoy it. I have no use for Facebook … but if you do? … knock yourself out … enjoy your bot infection
The lefty mind is something to behold, isn’t it.
For example, in their eyes any death by gunfire is one too many and a tragedy of unfathomable proportions as opposed to this woman’s death. All of a sudden her death should be of no concern whatsoever; just a strange bag lady who shouldn’t have been out on the street after dark in the first place.
Electing zombie Pinochet would be a bigger boost.
UnMe says:
“Further, we can get rid of truck drivers for semis. That’ll reduce consts [sic] immensely.”
I run a business where semis pick up my stuff and transport it from point A to point B. Who will unload and load these driverless trucks? Who will fill them full of fuel, change the oil, check the tires etc? All this is going to be automated?
@Ralph Spoilsport
Speak for yourself, I owe a good part of my electrical engineering degree to the many hours of last minute cramming on the train before class. Also you seem to be forgetting the many millions of daily man hours unnecessarily spent driving delivery/freight/taxi etc..
@nold
Yeah but maybe let’s not be hypocrites by having a highly emotional kneejerk response to one questionable death? Leave that to the leftists. This entire garbage article is an irrational appeal to emotion, there’s no logic or reason behind it at all.
It’s weird that you’re expected to choose one extreme or the other. You need to either be paranoid that it’s all a grand conspiracy to deprive you of liberty or driverless cars are perfect, car ownership will be obsolete and they will inevitably be mandatory so resistance is futile.
There’s a lot of middle ground in between. The auto-cars will be liberating for the elderly people, people scared to drive and the disabled. Increase productivity for workaholics. There’ll be more leisure and playtime for people who get bored driving. Having the option to switch to auto drive in unfamiliar areas is also a nice benefit.
Will the authoritarians push for oppressive and unethical restrictions on individual freedom? Of course, that’s what authoritarian assholes do, always and forever. The goal is to maximize the benefits and minimize the influence of the authoritarians. I actually think the politicians will feel the wrath of voters if they try to pry people away from privately owned, independent transportation and/or force us to use cars where we lose control of driving completely. If policies goes against human nature too drastically then they fail.
Now that they control the very breathe you exhale through carbon taxes, this the next logical step. It will be marketed as saving lives, when in fact it is just another way of control.
I assume these trucks like all trucks on the road today are in constant communication with the home base to track drivers hours, update delivery times, pay the drivers etc etc etc etc. No way in the world any hackers would be interested in diverting that truck load of beer to a different warehouse? No way a terrorist would have any interest in switching lanes somewhere on the trip into opposing traffic?
I like Pinochet. He only wanted to make communists and leftists go away. A much misunderstood and maligned person.
This car is either stupid or nearsighted. This woman is crossing two empty lanes of traffic. Two lanes going the same direction by the way. This car can’t track a 49 year old woman pushing a bike across the street and is now in front of it. The car comes upon an obstacle and it’s programming says run over it! The other possibility is even worse. It can’t see far enough ahead of itself to track an old lady crossing two lanes on an empty street and stop. Hundreds of millions of dollars. Decades of work invested by engineers, programmers, and technicians to develop a car that can’t see or can’t avoid an old lady. Apparently we are going to see fusion reactors and flying cars before we will see a decent driverless car.
I honestly don’t see self driving cars as a great conspiracy to take away people’s freedom. I wouldn’t mind having an ‘auto-pilot’ function for the long road trips I have been known to take. That being said I don’t trust the technology sufficiently to rely on it exclusively. In the past week the GPS on my phone was off target by a block. A few fellows I know were directed to their destination by GPS and wound up 35 blocks away from where they wanted to be.
“I actually think the politicians will feel the wrath of voters if they try to pry people away from privately owned, independent transportation and/or force us to use cars where we lose control of driving completely. If policies goes against human nature too drastically then they fail.” LC Bennett
But..but The Global World Government wet dream and the carbon tax will make the cost of self ownership & driving obsolete… The same result as banning of COAL energy production…Those of us who lived before the electrical Grid will survive because we know how and it is possible….When the SJW break something they need an alternative plan….Just imagine 16 wheeler trucks without a driver….
The existing Computer technology is a single STEP process (One task at a time) with interrupt priority. Speed just helps…The input detection SAW the person, but it was busy with another task..Surfing the net for porn?
I can imagine: Election Day. Known Conservative / Republican supporter orders a self-driving cab to take him/her to the polling station. On pickup, he/she ends up on an 8 hour trip out of town away from the polling station. Ooopps!
“Something went wrong”. That’s how elections can be controlled in the future.
I honestly don’t think self-driving car technology is as nearly advanced as people think. Maybe I’m biased and slightly cynical because I spent years working with complex, integrated systems and laboratory analysers. Automation certainly can take over repetitive, mundane tasks as well as dangerous work. When they work, they are a great labour saving tools. They can also be finicky and tend to fail without careful maintenance and calibration. Sensitive, complex, delicate equipment is prone to loss of accuracy and precision, mechanical failure, electrical failure, logic can fail. They have problems adjusting to abrupt environmental changes. Humans still perform many functions better than machines in less than ideal conditions.
Re: coal. The technology and knowledge isn’t permanently lost. If green energy doesn’t improve and nuclear is forbidden then coal power can be rebuilt. Although I assume natgas would be the cheaper, more practical alternative. Freezing in the dark to satisfy environmental purity is a dystopian fiction.
Oh neat someone else who isn’t a paranoid idiot.
I find it hilarious that the same people raving about how autonomous cars are coming to take away our freedom already want to give it away to the surveillance state or border patrol or cops or anything else Turmp gloms on to.
Re Coal: the natural gas being made cheap by fracking is killing coal just fine by itself.
Calm down everybody. Consider that automaton cars won’t happen without a lot of regulation and consultation by government. It took at least 25 years from the time the first HDTV was demonstrated until it was widely adopted. Anyone think it will be easier for self-driving cars?
So far the self-driving cars aren’t much past the proof of concept stage. And based on the Tempe accident, I would say they have failed miserably.
Predicting the future is a mug’s game anyway. Remember we were all supposed to be working in paperless offices long before now. And remember 20 years ago the Segway was going to revolutionize transportation.
I think the paranoia stems from the growth of government, government and big tech company surveillance, social media fanning fears, and the popularity progressive idea of “nudging” people (with nudge turning to shove very quickly). The paranoia isn’t unwarranted. Remember when using solar and wind power for a small extra fee was optional – that didn’t last very long.
Natgas is a much nicer fuel source to work with, compared to coal. As long as natgas stays cheap and nuclear is feared then natgas will replace coal as baseload power (and peak power).
I just want to point out that the “Anonymous” who has been rampant on this thread is not the same one who posted on previous threads on this subject before.
I really have to get registered, if someone would show me how.
There are many things that we can no longer do, because of security threats. But all these cars will be potential autonomous carbombs. Not only will they be allowed, they will be encouraged.
As to why, I’ve long suspected that this is a wealth transfer from the middle class, to the lords of silicone valley.
“Further, we can get rid of truck drivers for semis. That’ll reduce consts immensely.”
Thank you for the quote. I’ll be linking back to this whenever I’m reading someone who thinks that the liberals are the party of the working class.
I really have to get registered, if someone would show me how.
Where it says ‘Name’, pick one that works for you (hint…Maikeru is taken)
Segway … *snicker* … just another DeLorean-styled hucksters product.
Was feedin’ cows with the F350 thinking about a self driver.
Corb Lund say’s, “life’s better with cows around” and I think he’s right. They’ve been around the 350 a bit more than you might like…. caving in the door, fender etc.
Wonder how one of those self drivers might be at doin’ the chores? Ranchers could sleep in. Probably be in a slough the first morning….
The problem with that is that these people who are supposedly upset about the growth of government have no qualms about or support it under other circumstances, like E-Verify, REAL ID, etc
Another thing: while the car gives you a lot of freedom, it’s not THAT much. There’s a lot of chains on that freedom-the government built those roads and they get to decide if you have to carry insurance, they force you to register your car, put on a license plate, force certain mileages on you, etc.
@abtrapper: those cows will become obsolete when milk and meat are lab-grown.
You need to get one of those self-driving horses like Kate showed in the video from today’s Reader Tips.
Hey, I have a great idea for all lunatic leftists out there. When all vehicles are self driving and controlled by some massive computer system out there, we can unionize all those who operate the computers. That way, when they go on strike, they will get whatever they want. And they can walk out in solidarity with any other union that goes on strike and bring civilization to a screeching halt (“Screeching halt”, Hahaha.) Good idea, eh?
That is brilliant and scary.
E-verify … ha! You mean like my social security number? Sometimes you are mouth-gaping DUMB …
Hint: think for yourself, and don’t simply MockingJay the sounds of your leftist leaders.
I’m sure self-driving cars will be every bit as popular and just as cheap as electric cars. After all, e-cars have just taken over the market, no problem, what with them being SO cheap, and their range? Unstoppable!
…………………..extended…………………/sarc
“I think the paranoia stems from the growth of government, government and big tech company surveillance, social media fanning fears, and the popularity progressive idea of “nudging” people (with nudge turning to shove very quickly)”
No Kidding. Big city government and their dedicated bus lanes, bike lanes, car pool lanes, tougher restrictions on parking downtown, and generally their unrelenting vendetta against the personal automobile and yet some here see no downside to handing the keys over to the social planners.
I actually haven’t seen a lot of calls for bigger government from sda people. I know they have issues with legalizing pot, abortion, immigration and a few other social conservative concerns but not many calls for bigger government.
There certainly are driving restriction, some unnecessary, but the freedom is still much greater than all other alternatives. If you live outside of cities, driving freedom is even greater due to the absence of any eitnesses, traffic cameras and police officers.
You say … ‘government’ roads … I say ‘taxpayer’ roads. You didn’t build those … I built those! And in the land of Mexifornia the roads are such CRAP that PRIVATE toll roads are making headway. I am THRILLED to pay the fare for avoiding the CRAP roads that my State ‘government’ has let deteriorate
I believe you are just butthurt because you can not afford the COST of an automobile. I have no such difficulty. And who are you to tell me how to spend my own personal transportation dollar! … oh yeah, that’s right … it’s what your type does … nevermind
The reason these things will never work is that computers cannot
think. They can only do what they are programmed to do. The
problem with accidents is their causes number in the millions.
Each time an accident occurs as a result factors not built into
the software, the new scenario has to be added to the database.
The database (or lookup table) will grow like the Blob from the
old Steve McQueen sci-fi movie. This will slow down the computers
reaction time. Old time programmers used to describe this as
“Spaghetti code.” Humans behind the wheel do not have to think.
they react instinctively, something a computer will never be able
to do.
Artificial intelligence is an oxymoron, something that exists only
in the minds of utopian futurists. Colossus: The Forbin Project
and The Terminator Skynet scenarios do not scare me. Putting
the lives of human beings in the hands of machines, on the other
hand, scares the snot out me! But what really bothers me is the
idea that a computer can decide who gets to live and who gets
to die in an accident scenario. (I, Robot Will Smith)
While the woman putting on makeup or the guy reading E-mails at
the wheel might be screwed, most humans will take the right
evasive maneuver.