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I've been itching to release this terror movie plot into the wild: It's 2025 and more than 10% of the cars on the road in the US are self-driving. It's rush ho
by essayist 11y ago
I've been itching to release this terror movie plot into the wild:
It's 2025 and more than 10% of the cars on the road in the US are self-driving. It's rush hour on a busy Friday afternoon in Washington, DC. Earlier that day, there'd been a handful of odd reports of self-driving Edsels (so as not to impugn an actual model) going haywire, and the NTSB has started its investigation.
But then, at 430pm, highway patrol units around the DC beltway notice three separate multi-Edsel phalanxes, drivers obviously trapped inside, each phalanx moving towards the Clara Barton Parkway, which enters DC from the west. Other units notice four more phalanxes, one comprising 20 Edsels, driving into DC from the east side, on Pennsylvania Avenue.
At this point, traffic helicopters see similar car clusters, more than two dozen, all over DC, all converging on a spot that looks to be between the Washington Monument and the White House.
We zoom in on the headquarters of the White House Secret Service. A woman is arguing vociferously that these cars have to be stopped before they get any closer to the White House. A colleague yells back that his wife is one of those commandeered cars and she, like the rest of the "hackjacked" drivers and passengers is innocent.
- Afforess 11y agoI'm afraid Daemon (novel) beat you to the punch. It's an excellent novel, about fairly similar situations. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6665847-daemon http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6665847-daemon
- noir_lord 11y agoOne of my favourites, the sequels where similarly as good.
- pavel_lishin 11y agoAnd a really fun read. If someone here decides to get this book, get the sequel as well - Daemon ends on kind of a cliff-hanger.
- mitchellhislop 11y agoFreedom (TM) is the sequel, and the author (Daniel Suarez) has a few other near-term what-if-this-all-goes-skynet books which are equally good.
- Cerium 11y agoThank you! I didn't know there was a sequel. I really enjoyed the first book.
- DickingAround 11y agoDaemon is in that area but I'd for sure also enjoy the original proposal.
- rayval 11y agoCool plot line, I'd go see that movie. A related scenario, one that theoretically could happen today, is hacking into commercial airliners auto-pilot systems, and directing dozens of flights onto a target. Set aside the fantasy movie plot angle, how realistic is this today? Is it any more or less plausible than the millions of cars scenario? If people are truly concerned about the car scenario, shouldn't they be worrying about the aircraft scenario?
- seanp2k2 11y agoIn the airplane case, it's possible today: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CXv1j3GbgLk https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CXv1j3GbgLk And https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy3nXXZgqmg https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy3nXXZgqmg TL;DR you simulate a bunch of other planes in close proximity and the auto-pilot freaks out and tries to avoid them. As the second talk explains, the pilots would definitely notice and switch autopilot off. This is why IMO it's very important to not take ultimate control away from humans in cars. I would personally never buy one of the Google (or any other) self-driving models with no controls. It already freaks me out that many cars are drive-by-wire (for the accelerator), and now even steer-by-wire: http://www.caranddriver.com/features/electric-feel-nissan-digitizes-steering-but-the-wheel-remains-feature http://www.caranddriver.com/features/electric-feel-nissan-di... #noThankYouPlease
- blackflame7000 11y agoIf a fuel injection system were to fail via fried component or even a short would trip a fuse and cause it to fail safe by cutting fuel and shutting off the car. Fuel Throttle cables however have definitely become stuck in their sheathing in the WOT position. Happened to my dad on the highway in a 1992 Rodeo Isuzu.
- landryraccoon 11y ago> I would personally never buy one of the Google (or any other) self-driving models with no controls. It won't matter if all the other cars on the road besides yours don't have controls.
- 11y ago
- unprepare 11y agoI can see it now - a modern day tiananmen square as a lone figure stands in front of a long line of Edsels
- seanp2k2 11y agoIt's Will Smith, he's the president, and he just got finished dealing with a one of his super-cute children acting up, but actually doing something noble (but getting in trouble at school for it). Upon seeing the swarm: "Aww helllll naw"
- Splines 11y agoAutonomous machines gone haywire? Gratuitous CGI? Will Smith saying "Awww, hell naw"? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1UxZJ9owXY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1UxZJ9owXY
- TeMPOraL 11y agoPreventing the terror plot because the "do not drive over humans" goal overrides the "navigate to preselected target" goal?
- unprepare 11y agomy first thought actually was, how would the cars react to road spikes thrown by police? Especially on a highway with barriers on either side. Of course a competent writer would've thrown in a line about how these cars are on run flats at some point... Our only hope is for the scientists in the So-Secret-President-Doesnt-Even-Know Facility to come up with something so crazy it just might work
- foota 11y agoSounds vaugely similar to speed[1] (okay just in the sense that there's a vehicle that won't stop) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_(1994_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_(1994_film)
- tedks 11y agoThis is a good movie plot, it just has one huge plot hole: >It's rush hour on a busy Friday afternoon in Washington, DC. >each phalanx moving towards the Clara Barton Parkway >all converging DC rush hour? Moving cars? Please. Independence Day made me suspend less disbelief.
- nefitty 11y agoMaybe it'd be waves of vehicles, the first few waves crashing through traffic to make way for the rest of the swarm... I'm surprised I hadn't heard of this doomsday scenario yet haha
- Johnny555 11y agoYou don't need self driving cars for such a scenario to happen -- cars are increasingly drive by wire, and driver assistance features being added to cars (automatic lane keeping, automatic breaking, smart cruise control, etc) mean computers are already capable of taking over cars.
- outworlder 11y agoI've come to that realization when driving my Leaf. You see, with an internal combustion engine, there are several ways that you can stall the engine, even if the computer is controlling it. As long as you can stop it from rotating, it will stall. Now, take a Leaf. The engine can't physically stall. It is completely controlled by electronics – in contrast, even an ICE with an engine control unit will have some of it being driven mechanically (valves and driveshaft are all mechanical). This also causes cars to "creep" when you release the brakes, as the engine has to keep rotating. In the Leaf, the "creep" exists, but it is entirely simulated. Similarly, the steering is also electric and controlled by algorithms (more assist in parking lot, less in the highway). Braking is also software-controlled. The first ones had, as people called them, "grabby breaks" (it would use regenerative breaking with a light force, if you pressed more, the breaks would suddenly "grab" the wheel). This was fixed in a software update. Turning on and off is also a button. Can't yank the keys either. So yeah, presumably, a Leaf could turn on, engage "drive" and start driving around, all with on-board software. It lacks sensors to do anything interesting, but the basic driving controls are there. Good thing it cannot be updated over the air.
- essayist 11y agoFun. Johnny555 is right of course, and it was the Jeep hacked on the Interstate last year that first inspired me. The airplane scenario may be more likely, but I liked the additive nature of so many cars, cars a bit like insects. (You could go further in this direction by conjuring up multiple drone swarms.) As to movie points: of course Will Smith is the hero, and we'll handle DC rush hour stasis through special effects. ;-)
- bigiain 11y agoFrom a friend a while back: https://medium.com/@mpesce/the-great-hack-part-one-attack-70c5f7b22f34 https://medium.com/@mpesce/the-great-hack-part-one-attack-70...
- dsfyu404ed 11y agoYou're over thinking it. Hack into onstar, brick every connected vehicle at hh:mm and have some gunmen start shooting at hh:mm + 1min.
- prawn 10y agoI'm less worried about vehicle incidents on flat surfaces and more worried by anything happening on mountain roads with deadly drops on one side.