Self Driving cars will soon travel from science fiction to the Real world. How soon? We are yet to fix a date for the green signal. Having said that, it is very exciting to see that the research into Autonomous Vehicles is progressing at a rapid rate and just like Google, I am completely obsessed with it.
Don't ask me why. Watch Chris Urmson's TED talk to believe it!
There have been a lot of assumptions since the news came out that Google is really planning on bringing the self-driving cars to reality. Before imagining that we can even see such vehicles in our not-so-near future, we must consider several factors that may hinder the progress and cause more damage than good.
The ‘OMG’ cost
Don’t even start with the expenses that a Google self-Driving Car incurs. It is way too much for normal people to adopt. According to many researchers, it is beyond the cost of a Ferrari. Just like only billionaires can book a ticket to Space, we can relate a similar case here.
I see a drop in the price of such cars in the future just like the prices of phones and computers dropped before mass adoption took place. But when? No one knows yet.
I want to experience the concept of the self-driving car in my lifetime. That is one reason why I feel high cost will be a big turn-off at least for our generation. I hope Google and the other automobile manufacturers are kind enough to lower their price fast.
Why do I really think Self-driving cars will be the future? Check it out here.
Reluctance to change
Change is a big issue for people. Except for a handful, nobody likes change. We tend to stay in our comfort box and this happens because of our fear of the unknown.
A part of the brain forces us to think of the negative outcome.
What if trusting an AI-driven car cost my life? What if I I don’t like sharing cars with anyone? Or more abstract, what if not driving bores me? We cannot help it. This is our innate survival instincts calling.
Such thoughts are bound to come to mind prior to buying such cars and will definitely slow things down. And if by any means, the Governments block the road to our fantasy world, such a large scale roll-out may take ages to see a ray of hope.
The opposition is not only applicable from the customer side, the manufacturing and implementation can disrupt the progress too. How and why? My next point explains about this.
Who is to blame?
Let us put aside the Google accuracy claims for one minute and imagine that an accident occurred by a robot car. Who shall pay and who shall charge?
You won't be able to charge the owner of the car, as he is not driving. Only the manufacturer will be liable for this. However, there is a trick here. We all know that electronic equipment cannot give you a perfect 100 percent accuracy. That is a universal law and you cannot change that.
The manufacturer has to pay for the accident in my opinion. But my point is that iPhones sometimes hang.
But we don’t give it importance as holistically it gives us a great service and speed. One out of 1000 iPhone may malfunction and that can be upsetting but not life-threatening. However, when you put your life at stake and the car hangs for five seconds; you can get the story.
You may be pondering that accidents still happen in the recent scenario with or without AI-powered cars. Yes, they do and self-driven cars might reduce accidents significantly, for the sake of argument. But let me remind you when a driver is to blame, it is easier to victimise. But when technology is to blame, who should we choose?
Infrastructure and implementation
The infrastructure required for self-driving is costly. I can’t even think how we will be able to transition smoothly from normal people-driven cars to self-driven cars.
Let's say we plan to roll it out in phases - I don’t understand how both types of cars can move around together. Even though self-driven cars will behave in public, the rest won’t. Why do you ask?
We are impatient 'fellas.' Call it rash driving, drinking while driving or human error - we don’t care about the cars in the front, at the back or on the sides. We may hit them when we get distracted. This way, many self-driven cars may get accidentally hit. I am not emphasizing humans are deliberate but the fact that we make errors in the strangest ways possible, can cause more worry for us than help us.
Hey, my job!
I am not sure how much will self-driven cars will disrupt other related industries.
But AI is going to cause job loss. So, this is not new. Some may refute that losing a job in one field may open other domains. I would like to believe that too.
According to several researchers, self-driven cars will take away the job of traffic police, automobile insurers, car paint shops, hospitals, vehicle parts dealers, road construction companies and automobile oil industry. There may be other industries that I may have missed.
So should we stop researching on AI? Definitely not. But, I will definitely urge everyone that we should not allow robots to completely rule us, otherwise, we can face some adverse consequences later on. This is my personal opinion only and I welcome anyone to oppose it.
Do we sloth or spry?
Yes, I have seen Wall E and I believe exactly that is where we are heading. How?
Just compare your and your father’s or even grandfather’s generation. We are a generation who has every single bit of information available at a click of a button. We don’t have to go the bookstore or library or ask someone to gain knowledge. All are so readily available to us and that is exactly why we millennials are so lazy and love comfort.
Adding a cherry on the top, we will ask our newer generation to stop driving too. I can see a pattern that is only suggesting that one day will come when humans will be so attached to technology, it will be impossible to survive without them.(Not literally but really!)
On the other hand, if we utilize that free time efficiently, I would love to see more productivity in the world.
I am hoping my second guess comes true and we become the master of ourselves.
Being positive
However, all is not that depressing. I am positive and excited too about the release of the AVs.
Seeing this video helps me believe that self-driving cars are all about liberating and freeing our boundaries.
Google claims that traffic accidents, commute time, energy and the number of cars will reduce by approximately 90 percent. If we are to believe in these stats, it is amazing. In fact, I would say mind-boggling.
Google is not the only company researching. Apple is also showing interest in self-driving cars.
When a new giant business or system arrives, so does its tertiary businesses. Those businesses will foster new growth opportunities and allow jobs to the citizens.
So, I hope that if an ecosystem is destroyed for a cause, it should benefit it rather than disrupting it.
I would like to see how the technology fares overall. We are yet in the nascent stage of AI development and self-driven cars. I am sure, in our near future, it is going to make huge progress, at least in developed nations. Once people start accepting the new way of life, it will be just a few miles along to the other world.
Do you feel the same or want to add something else? Please comment down below to share your valuable opinions.
