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Autonomous Cars and the Centralization of Driving

Posted by Soulskill on from the go-where-the-algorithm-lets-you dept.

New submitter arctother writes: Taxicab Subjects has posted a response to a Morgan Stanley analyst's recent take on how driverless cars will shape society in the future. From the article: [R]eally, 'autonomy' is still not the right word for it. Just as the old-fashioned 'automobile' was never truly 'auto-mobile,' but relied, not only on human drivers, but an entire concrete infrastructure built into cities and smeared across the countryside, so the interconnected 'autonomous vehicles' of the future will be even more dependent on the interconnected systems of which they are part. To see this as 'autonomy' is to miss the deeper reality, which will be control. Which is why the important movement reflected in the chart's up-down continuum is not away from 'Human Drivers' to 'Autonomous' cars, but from a relatively decentralized system (which relies on large numbers of people knowing how to drive) to an increasingly centralized system (relying on the knowledge of a small number of people)."

3 of 181 comments (clear)

  1. Start with an erroneous assumption ... by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Just as the old-fashioned 'automobile' was never truly 'auto-mobile,' but relied, not only on human drivers, but an entire concrete infrastructure built into cities and smeared across the countryside

    The original "horseless carriages" started out by following the paths their horse-drawn peers used. No special infrastructure just for them.

    --
    "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
  2. So how long before by MikeRT · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Autonomous cars become mainstream and law enforcement gets a kill switch that locks the person into their car and drives them to the nearest police-approved pull over spot or station?

    1. Re:So how long before by currently_awake · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The ability to remote control a car is a major worry. Some possible problems: No driver suicide car bombs, abduction by remote control, changing the route a car uses so it puts someone the government doesn't like at the scene of a crime, if you cancel a persons authorization to use an autonomous car (assuming this replaces mass transit) you basically imprison them.