AI Take The Wheel!
It's interesting how one post from a Hive user on the other side of the globe can tie into something of your own that has been a work in progress. I came across this really good post by @galenkp yesterday that fits with an idea I have had in my Google Keep for a few weeks now.
In fact, I just saw a story on the news the other day where they were talking about how teenagers are driving way too fast. I've seen all kinds of stories about distracted driving and impaired driving, but this is the first I have seen one about speeding.
The truth is, it isn't isolated to just teenagers. Everyone does it. I've even been known to put the pedal to the metal a time or two myself. In fact, if you asked anyone that has ridden with me, they would probably say I am an aggressive driver. I would counter that I am in fact a confident driver, but we are probably getting into the potato/potahto realm there.
@mrsbozz's new car actually has a lot of pretty cool safety features that I think help me keep some of my aggressive tendencies in check. It has a warning about getting too close to the car in front of you which is probably one of my biggest issues.
This post isn't really about my driving habits though.
I've been noticing for a while now that people just don't have the attention span for driving these days like they used to.
@tarazkp has written a number of posts over the past year talking about how attention spans in general are slowly withering. As someone who suffers from ADHD, I have never had much of an attention span, but I definitely see what he is saying.
With so many distractions and the inability to actively focus on one thing at a time, we are seeing a world full of people who just don't belong behind the wheel of a two ton death machine. Truth be told, there are probably times that I don't either.
Around where I live, many of the expressway speed limits were bumped up to 75 MPH in the past several years. For those of you who use a rational system of measurement, that's just shy of 121 KPH. Unfortunately, that isn't good enough for most people because although I tend to drive between 78 MPH (125.5 KPH) and 82 MPH (132 KPH), people are still blowing my doors off passing me. I was trying to get around a truck quick the other day and I was up to 87 MPH (140 KPH) and the guy behind me was still up my butt. He had to be going at least 90 to 95 MPH (145-153).
It's not like our expressway system is the autobahn, but many people think it is. I actually saw an article a while ago where they were saying that roads in the US are more dangerous than in the UK simply for the fact that they are so flat and straight. It's easier to zone out without all the twists and turns you get in the Europe. I totally believe it.
Which ultimately brings me to my point.
I think the roads would be much safer if everyone had self driving cars.
I know there has been a pretty large hit job happening lately over Tesla and their self driving mode. It's pretty easy to cherry pick a handful of incidents in a relatively small segment and ignore the dozens of manual auto crashes that happen every day.
I've driven down the expressway and seen people reading the paper, playing on their phone, putting on their makeup, and eating their dinner. Are you really telling me that's safer than a computer or AI that can make millions of computations per second? AI has the potential to be infinitely faster than us when it comes to reflexes. It can take into account a dozen factors that we never even considered and drive accordingly.
Of course that brings up additional issues like does the AI realize how much tread you have left on your tire? Will it not start the car if you have less than the required amount of brake pad left? These are all things to consider that could change the way the vehicle behaves and reacts
I'm not saying AI is a magic pill that will fix all the ills of the driving world, but I think it's something we need to be more open to embracing. If I had to guess, a big portion of the smear campaign is probably driven by the big 3 automakers simply because they are against anything Tesla offers.
What happens when they have a viable solution of their own to implement. What's the issue going to be then? Pretty soon we might all be driving down the road clapping our hands to "We Will Rock You" like in that GMC commercial.
At the very least we will be able to more safely take photos like the ones above that I grabbed this morning.
Don't judge me!
On a lighter note, I'm going to leave you with this fun clip from The Simpsons:
Sports Talk Social - @bozz.sports
Great Simpsons moment! Some places would really benefit from some AI help. Driving across the plains or Texas it's easy to zone off. There just so much of nothing for hours at a time. I remember when the speed limit in Montana was "A safe and prudent speed" because much of the state is in the great plains. Long straight roads but of course the feds forced them to change it....
!DHEDGE
It's just crazy how much a hurry people are in. I mean I get the same way sometimes, but I try to at least keep it at a reasonable speed. I worry how things are going to look when I am older and my reflexes aren't quite as sharp!
It’s everywhere people speed. It’s crazy
Aww
Mrzbozz new car looks really cool
I love the black color too
Thanks! It's a big different from her old one, but we are getting used to it!
If there is an accident and no HUMAN was at fault, how is that insurance handled?
I'm sure they would figure out a way!
I’m ambivalent about the idea of self-driving cars. Yeah, they sometimes kill people but human-driven cars do that all the time. I’d like to see studies comparing the two, maybe with a total miles driven metric.
In 50 years of driving, I’ve been involved in three crashes (yeah, one of the three was my fault). At least nobody was killed in any of them.
But it will likely be several years until we might be in the market for a new vehicle, so I’ve got time for the software to get better.
I totally agree with you. I haven't been in many major accidents myself. Only two of them required body work, one was a deer and the other I got rear ended. I think it's going to be hard to compare the two right now simply because the self driving segment is so low compared to the mass of other vehicles on the road.
Safety features are a good thing, as long as people don't rely on them. I remember a few years after ABS was introduced all of a sudden these other assistent things popped up and a lot of my friends decided now they can "safely" speed along because these systems will save them. And advertisement jumped on the same train by showing a mercedes speeding up a bob sled track in their add "just because now they can". Just stupid.
Anyway, back to AI and self driving cars. We are at a turning point in history regarding AI. It's similar to the invention of the steam engine or the computer. With new technology it will take many years and one or two generations to adjust society to it. The old folks will have a hard time adapting while the new generations who grow up with this stuff will find a way to incorporate it into their lifes.
And regarding the self driving cars it will be a numbers game. As long as the fatalities keep dropping while introducing and improving this new technology the progress will go on. And we need people to push this progress, we need figures like Musk who push things against society and its will just to try it out. If it does not work it will eventually go back and be stopped. But we'll only find out if it works if we try.
So long and drive save.
!PIZZA
Those are very good points. I was just talking to my dad the other day about how he hated it when ABS first came out. He felt like the car was falling apart and he wished there was a way you could turn it off! I'd like to think I am a pretty alert and safe driver. I have my human moments though.
$PIZZA slices delivered:
@hannes-stoffel(1/5) tipped @bozz
My father has had a Tesla for several years now. In fact, he originally bought one because his job requires him to drive a lot, and the fuel budget was becoming a real constraint (over 50,000km/year).
That's why the Tesla came into his head in the first place. Having driven it several times, it's amazing the feeling of security you get inside. Everything's secure and doesn't necessarily make you want to go fast.
In fact, the ride is really smooth. I compare it to my 1996 van haha.
Your thoughts on diminishing attention span are 100% true. I'm currently in the middle of "weaning" from TikTok and it's really hard. But I think it's really necessary when I see the damage it can do. TikTok isn't the only thing to blame.
For that reason alone, I really support the autonomous car industry. In fact, I have a great deal of confidence in this autonomy, having driven the Tesla, but also other cars in this style. A good chunk of the people who are against it are people who don't know much about this technology and how much more reliable it is than a human.
I think ultimately it has to do with control. I think people and industries don't like giving up control and that drives a lot of this. I like the idea of electric cars, but over here in the states the infrastructre isn't there to support the huge distances we have. My bad for assuming you don't live in the states. I think if I lived in a big city and I didn't travel too far outside of that circle then it might make sense. My wife and I drive a half hour to work in a small town and a half hour back each day. Given it is a small town, charging stations aren't that much of an option. I really like the idea of hybrid vehicles where the battery charges as you drive.
In fact, my parents also live a long way from a big city, so there's no way to recharge the car.
But in their house, there are solar panels and a super tesla charger (which you can buy in addition to the car). This is really handy, because it means you can have a supercharger at home.
The hybrid car is a good compromise, I think. And it's just crazy to be able to recharge while driving. Of course, it's not going to fill up the car's battery, but it clearly limits recharging times afterwards.
I imagine that in a few years' time, these recharging technologies will be even more powerful. There are crazy discoveries being made every day when you look into it.
It's a pity that in the media, we mostly talk about the war between the anti-electrics and the pro-electrics.
I totally agree. I think one day it is going to be a more viable option for those of us in the states.