Quote:
Originally Posted by DaFace
Just thinking through it, these things WILL get figured out in the next couple decades. It could happen very quickly, or it may take a while, but it'll get done. The technology is already too close to a reality for it not to happen.
So given that, the implications are incredible to think about. Off the top of my head (and summarizing some from the article and elsewhere), here are a few. These are all, of course, purely theoretical depending on how things work out.
- Cars could take kids to and from school on their own, freeing up parents.
- People who are visually impaired would have a way to get around much more.efficiently, potentially increasing the portion of blind people who can reasonably work.
- Traffic congestion could be reduced dramatically, as human reactions are the cause of a huge amount of it currently.
- Drunk driving could be reduced dramatically.
- Car sharing could become the norm since you could potentially have a huge fleet of cars-on-demand to show up when you need them.
- The elderly could stay mobile much further in their lives, improving longevity and quality of life dramatically.
It's fascinating to consider all the possibilities. If it works perfectly, I think it could be as big of a cultural revolution as the internet. |
Excellent point.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DrunkBassGuitar
yeah but like a bus or a train can already do all of those things
|
Excellent point.
I think the key is to get irrational humans to drive less, regardless of how that happens.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BWillie
Why would you WANT to drive in the first place...if you didnt have to. I don't know about you but I HATE driving.
When I go on a long trip and I use auto pilot which still isn't even close to driverless driving....but I feel 1000% less fatigued when I get home.
|
Excellent point.
Some people enjoy driving, and that's great. I figure there'll always be niches where a human driver is needed.
But I'm right there with you on not enjoying driving. It's a big waste of time. There are times when I'm out in some huge rural area where it's kind of peaceful, but most of my driving is not out in a rural utopia. And while the scenery can be nice, I'd rather see the scenery from a train where I'm not needing to watch the road.
If you think about the number of hours Americans spend driving every year, how many great novels are going unwritten? How many kids' treehouses are going unbuilt? How many lonely housewives are being left unsatisfied? There are a million better ways that that billion hours could be used.