Why Autonomous Vehicles Will Replace Us, and Why It is a Good Thing
Technology for autonomous vehicles-- vehicles that can drive themselves are on an uprising. Money for research is being poured into these vehicles from many automotive companies. According to this article from Fortune Magazine, Nissan, Tesla, Delphi Automotive and Bosch have already gotten permits to begin driving and testing cars on the open road. The technology is here, and with all new technology-- it will replace old technology. The previous technology being: human drivers, us.
Fully autonomous vehicles are nearby, and will be common on open roads as early as 2023 according to the above article from Fortune, or as early as 2020 according to Transport Evolved, and by 2035 making up 75% of the industry's market share; incredible.
This means that half a decade, drivers will begin to be replaced by an algorithm, and in two decades, roughly three out of four of every new vehicle will be controlled by an algorithm. This will have drastic effects on not only our means of travel from point A to point B, but for transportation services, delivery services, and emergency services.
With the consequences of an unpaid driver being cheaper than a paid human driver, these autonomous vehicles will invade the industry in the same way that autonomous machines invaded manufacturing, creating more efficient, cheaper, and safer means of transportation. Taxi drivers, delivery truck drivers, mailmen, limo drivers, bus drivers, train drivers, and pizza delivery boys will all begin to be replaced by computers navigating the open road. These millions of human workers will be replaced by machines, and with their replacement would come new ways of getting our pizza, getting our mail, and getting ourselves from place to place throughout the day.
Mail will be able to be delivered 24/7 taxis and buses will be able to run 24/7, since machines do not need to sleep. The hour-long morning commute will be a breeze, where the average Joe worker can get an hour's work done on the way to his workplace, and an hour's work done on the way back while gliding safely through traffic. Humans, both drivers themselves and passengers of autonomous vehicles will be able to traverse more safely. All of these consequences cause for a more productive and safer day for all involved.
Applications of these consequences can create further consequences. With a commute being cheaper and easier, workers will be able to commute from further away, broadening suburb outside cities and growing cities themselves. With services being able 24/7, workers will be able to work at other times in the day, from dawn to dusk where there will always be a cheap mode of transportation ready for them.
The positive outcomes are endless, and can only improve the economy and easiness of life for every average Joe like you and me.
posted by Nathan Archer @ 5:21 PM
2 Comments
2 Comments:
Hi Nathan, I really love the topic you chose to blog about! I think that transportation in general is super relevant to the lives of all people, but especially where we live in the DMV area. I think this is a great example of computer science and math in action and I have no doubt that many aspects of our daily lives will change once these vehicles are offered on the public market place for decent prices. I did not realize just how close we were to becoming a no driver society so I really appreciate you including dates, companies, and the investments being made into this technological progress. I think including some cons or questions at least would add to your post as well. Like, if an accident occurs, how will insurance handle it? Will insurance no longer be required? Will the population of citizens who know how to drive and get their license decrease dramatically or will that still be a backup? And the most important question, is this really safer than human drivers in terms of drivers intuition? I also like how you acknowledged the amount of jobs that will be lost because I imagine it to be a very large number including drivers, traffic police, crosswalk attendants, and many more. I look forward to hearing more on this topic!
Wow! Just wow! This topic is interesting and so cutting-edge - I'm seriously blown away. My only concern is that with these automatic cars, what will the consequences be? You really only outlined the positive results, but what about the negative ones? I can understand if the articles you found on your topic don't really cover these, but maybe you can speculate a little bit. Do these new models have some kind of built in system that detects if the car is too close to an object so that it will stop or re-route? What about if one of the passengers realizes the car isn't going to re-route, is there an option to take over and remove the auto pilot? Just some thoughts! But cool topic!!
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