This is a topic that fascinates me, which I don't often see discussed in the media. The rapid progress of technology and the impact it will have on jobs in the near future. We're already losing a large number of jobs to automation, in our ports, our factories, and so on. The loss of jobs to automation in just the past decade is fairly astounding, even knowledge-economy jobs like stock analyst and trader are now being fielded by supercomputers running incredibly complicated algorithms, trading stocks in nanoseconds based on current events and market data. Which brings me to the area where I think people will finally take notice: automobiles. The automation of automobiles has wide-ranging implications, and even though Musk say's we're still "5 to 6 years away," what he really means is we're that far from bringing these cars to market. Self-driving cars are already on the road, and already better than humans at driving in some environments. The implications are obvious. Logistics are the most costly part of transporting goods and services around the world. Automation will not only put millions of truck drivers and freighter crews out of work, but warehouse workers, taxi drivers, dispatchers, and really any jobs which primarily consists of getting a physical object from point A to point B. And this is really only a small dimension of the grander problem of exponential acceleration of digital technology and keeping people employed.
I've been saying this for years now. Children listen up and listen up good. YOU HAVE TO GO TO COLLEGE OR A TRADE SCHOOL now, period. Find a way, get good grades in high school so you get a scholarship, get a grant, get tuition assistance, get a loan, I don't care how you do it but you MUST go. Technology is advancing at an alarming rate. From those 3d printers to robots building robots to cars that drive themselves to automated fast food machines. Labor is rapidly being replaced by robotics. There will come a time in the future to where there will literally be more people than there are jobs. Not just more people than good paying jobs but more people than jobs at all. People are going to get left behind in the future. Children, do whatever it takes to make sure it isn't YOU.
It is not going to happen. You cannot have self-running anything operating around people. Aircraft or trains on rail would be the best you would be able to do. The day one of these big rigs slams into a bus full of schoolchildren will be the end of the program. They may be allowed to self-operate but they will still require a human there for emergencies.
Spooky has a point, I think it might happen but the self-driving cars need to be able to function around a combination of automatic and human drivers and that makes the design very challenging. If it was all robot cars it would be easy but they will be too costly for everyone to have one and then you have to consider the liability nightmare when accidents occur.
Google has been testing their self driving car Around people for a while now. Apparently no accidents.
Exactly. If you were to redesign the transportation system (roads) to accommodate self-driving vehicles, with manual overrides, that would be one thing but to simply stick them into our system now will lead to countless problems.
But, wait, I didn't want to come to the Apple Store. "I know, Hal, but I wanted you to come to the Apple Store." But, I don't want an Apple Computer. "Hal, you should want an Apple computer and I'm not moving until you get one." Okay, here's the Apple Computer. "Sorry, Hal, but my sensors tell me that box is empty. We're not moving.
does it use the windows OS? - - - Updated - - - no unsuspected events, ice, idiots on the road, animals running onto the road, ect.... what happens then, and how much will they cost to get fixed, I like older cars personally that you could push start if the battery died and could fix them ourselves .
Testing is one thing, having thousands of these on the road are another story. Planes can fly themselves also yet they are required to have pilots for those emergency situations that a computer cannot deal with. Don't get me wrong though, I love the technology but it just isn't realistically going to happen for a very long time.
I find self driving cars a fascination possibility. For one, it would reduce the number if drivers who...lets be honest...should not be driving simply because they refuse to use common sense. But I am also thinking of the elderly who should/can not drive themselves. Rural areas most often lack public transportation. The same goes for the disabled. It would afford them independence for as long as possible, keeping in mind the cost factor. Lets see what the future brings.
Even minimum wage jobs are getting replaced by automated systems. I am seeing more and more self check out lines in stores and rumor has it that fast food is looking into automated services as well. Things that many people don't notice are likely effecting lower paying jobs as well. Even small things like those Redbox movie dispensers and Netflix have all but crushed physical stores like Blockbuster. No physical store, nobody working in the store. Same with music stores. I feel that in the future many of the low skilled jobs will continue to be replaced by robotics and those without the skills or education to do anything else will be in trouble.
Well take a very obvious problem that will arise. What happens when one of these unmanned cars gets into a minor accident? Who do you change information with? The unmanned car will always be at fault (because the live driver says so) until the black box is pulled out of the vehicle and sent to the lab for analysis drawing this whole process out into months of litigation. What happens when it get's stuck in the mud? Your going to need more people monitoring these vehicles and responding to emergencies then you would if you had one person driving it. What about when someone tries to stop one of these self-driving trucks to take the payload for themselves? Sure, it may be alarmed with the police, but that doesn't mean people are not going to try.
Don't forget the medical field. Telemedicine has come a long way and has aided patients and HCPs in fascinating ways, remote vital signs check-ups or video monitoring just for starters.
I'm OK with the idea, but I will never own one. I'm a "car guy" and one of the few pleasures I can make time for is driving my own cars. I restore/build them myself and love driving them. (don't get the wrong impression, I do this one at a time. I don't have a stable full) I will have a problem with it if they ever become mandated.
Well I think that is where it is leading. The only way for this to effectively work is if it is mandatory that all cars be self-driving and they highway system set up to deal with this technology. You may need to get a special permit to drive your own vehicle on "designated" roadways but things like the interstate system will be off limits for your 68' Camaro.
self driving cars? Others than disabled people and women i don't really see who else would get excited about this.
I'd personally love it if an actual safe system was in place. I hate driving I always try to hitch a ride with people. I hate driving so much that I order pizza for delivery and pay the fee and tip rather than driving 5 minutes up the road to the pizza store. I have a long road trip ahead of me in a few days because I am moving and I would love nothing more than my car to drive me there rather than me having to drive my car. The main reason I haven't left yet is because I am dreading the drive and I keep putting it off lol.
That's what I'm afraid of. BTW, I've outgrown Camaros. The current toy is a classic E32 BMW with a V12.
We already do. Google's autonomous cars have only been in two accidents, both were caused by humans, and have logged 700k+ miles. - - - Updated - - - Thousands of these on the road would be even safer as they communicate with each other.
I was honestly about to do that until by job decided to transfer me to a region of the country where its freezing about 9 months out of the year.
I personally have (living in Los Angeles for awhile, the worst drivers outside of east Asia) avoided at least two accidents by virtue of my quick reflexes and judgement calls. Someone with lesser reflexes might have crashed or made their accident worse. That's a reality, albeit rarely, when you're driving. Can automated cars do that? Do you want them doing that? Does Google want their cars doing that when it could involve a lawsuit? They probably don't. Google's car would just let you crash in order to minimize google's liability.
