Saturday, October 9, 2010

Google's Cars that drive themselves on roads with you and I

Google Cars Drive Themselves, in Traffic

 Begin Quote from Above news article:

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Anyone driving the twists of Highway 1 between San Francisco and Los Angeles recently may have glimpsed a Toyota Prius with a curious funnel-like cylinder on the roof. Harder to notice was that the person at the wheel was not actually driving.

Smarter Than You Think


Articles in this series are examining the recent advances in artificial intelligence and robotics and their potential impact on society.

Ramin Rahimian for The New York Times
A self-driving car developed and outfitted by Google, with device on roof, cruising along recently on Highway 101 in Mountain View, Calif.

The car is a project of Google, which has been working in secret but in plain view on vehicles that can drive themselves, using artificial-intelligence software that can sense anything near the car and mimic the decisions made by a human driver.
With someone behind the wheel to take control if something goes awry and a technician in the passenger seat to monitor the navigation system, seven test cars have driven 1,000 miles without human intervention and more than 140,000 miles with only occasional human control. One even drove itself down Lombard Street in San Francisco, one of the steepest and curviest streets in the nation. The only accident, engineers said, was when one Google car was rear-ended while stopped at a traffic light.

end quote.

So, in other words a non-human has successfully driven a car 1,000 miles but also successfully driven 140,000 miles with only occasional human control. If you relegate the computer to a husband driving and the stand by human to a wife back seat driving, then you get what happens in many male female driving relationships already. However, I'm not sure I would NOT want to be in the driver's seat constantly waiting to step in if it was my car. I won't ever be ready to completely trust artificial intelligence for the same reason that I don't send taxes or other important documents over the internet ever if I can manage it. Those who tell you artificial intelligence is completely safe are lying to you. It might be safer than some humans who are having pyschological problems or who are drunk or drugged but not by much. I, personally don't ever intend to fully trust artificial intelligence with my life unless I'm there back seat driving the thing on the ground or in the air or on the water. But that's just me. And who Am I? Having been a Computer programmer in my early days trusting software isn't really a good idea. It's about like trusting a drunk to drive your daughter home from a party. It's just never going to be a completely good idea without someone competent back seat driving at the very least or more.

Next quote from article:

“The technology is ahead of the law in many areas,” said Bernard Lu, senior staff counsel for the California Department of Motor Vehicles. “If you look at the vehicle code, there are dozens of laws pertaining to the driver of a vehicle, and they all presume to have a human being operating the vehicle.”
The Google researchers said they had carefully examined California’s motor vehicle regulations and determined that because a human driver can override any error, the experimental cars are legal. Mr. Lu agreed.end quote.

Yes. I agree with this assessment. Legally, the driver is in control of the car just like I like using cruise control. In my family I am the only one who likes using cruise control. Likewise, if I had artificial intelligence I would also use it like cruise control and just be there to override in an emergency. Driving in this way might be more relaxing or stressfull depending upon the situation. In town one would have to be very vigilant, but out on the open road where there are less obstacles to deal with one might be able to relax more using an artificially intelligent driver that one then back seat drove with to make sure every thing was okay.

Here's another point of view on the subject:

Google's new robot car: Crazy good or crazy crazy?

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