On a journey with a reporter from the San Francisco Chronicle, the pair noticed the Waymo they were traveling in crept to a rolling start at a pedestrian crossing before the person had reached the other footpath.
The subtle movement was reminiscent of the way humans act behind the wheel, but a strange occurrence for the robotic Waymo, which prides itself on being safer than a driver because it errs on the side of caution and leaves no room for human error.
The action of letting the foot gently off the break moments before they should to allow the car to begin creeping forward at a rolling pace displays a sense of impatience – a human reaction not previously seen in the robotic cars.
‘From an evolutionary standpoint, you’re seeing a lot more anticipation and assertiveness from the vehicles,’ Riggs said.
h/t kerry
The only thing missing now is an automated, robotic, hand with an extended middle finger
“From an evolutionary standpoint, you’re seeing a lot more anticipation and assertiveness from the vehicles,’ Riggs said. ”
See, this is why English majors should never be allowed near a computer.
It’s not evolution. The car is not anticipating anything, it has nothing to assert. What you’re looking at is sloppy programing.
The car does not know it is at a crosswalk. It does not know that the thing in the crosswalk is a pedestrian. It does not know it is supposed to sit there until the thing is all the way across. It doesn’t know anything. It doesn’t remember what happened one second ago, it can’t predict what will happen one second from now.
That’s what makes robot cars suck. No continuity of consciousness. They update their database from their sensor suite and that database determines what happens next, millisecond by millisecond.
I hate the way these news articles talk about these things. It’s a freakin’ computer, it can’t do anything outside it’s program.
Every time one of these data points comes up, I think back to things I’ve said previously and others hand-waved away and to the phrase that came out about 9/11: a failure of imagination.
We’re literally teaching machines how to act like humans. Everything is within that program. Saying we’ll always be able to control them is about as stupid (and as effective) as trying to control a herd of cats.
If they start driving like Asians, the sidewalks won’t be safe.
L – Is the rolling start a sign of anticipation of an order, it knows it has been programmed to do.
When a direct order is issued during rush hour?
If Alfred Hitchcock was still making films. His update for The Birds would be a part 1. The Drones. Part 2. The Robo Cars. Part 3. The Smart Phones.