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The public policy and PR question I'm curious about - how will the conversation be structured around self driving cars and their difficiences? When someone on

The public policy and PR question I'm curious about - how will the conversation be structured around self driving cars and their difficiences? When someone on a bicycle gets killed, they'll be able to point to the limitations of the system and say "this code can't handle this and it'll kill others - we should outlaw it". While others can point to stats to say self driving cars are safer, I'm afraid the dialog won't be that rational and they'll get banned on a state/city level.

gambiting 10y ago
I had this conversation with a friend the other day. "If an automatic car will only detect a red light or a cyclist or a child on the road accurately 99.99% of the time, should it be allowed on the road?" - his answer was "if it's safer than a human on average, then yes". My answer is - absolutely not. System malfunction is one thing, but if there's a non-zero chance of not detecting something that it has to detect to operate safely, then it shouldn't be allowed to be sold.
- aggie 10y ago
  So by your logic, human-piloted cars shouldn't be sold either, as humans are not able to detect things 100% of the time.
  - gambiting 10y ago
    A human is not a component for the car - the car itself is not smarter than a knife or a gun - it's how you use it that defines the responsibility here. Or to put it in other words - if I run a red light by accident, then that's what it is - an accident. I'm still responsible for causing a crash if one happens, but there's nothing more I can do to improve my perception of surroundings(and we already do ban humans who are unfit for driving). If a self driving car runs a red light, because its sensor is only 99% accurate, then I'm pretty sure the company making it will be sued to oblivion, because they released something that does not work all of the time(and I am talking about normal operating conditions, not sensor malfunctioning).

gambiting 10y ago

I had this conversation with a friend the other day. "If an automatic car will only detect a red light or a cyclist or a child on the road accurately 99.99% of the time, should it be allowed on the road?" - his answer was "if it's safer than a human on average, then yes". My answer is - absolutely not. System malfunction is one thing, but if there's a non-zero chance of not detecting something that it has to detect to operate safely, then it shouldn't be allowed to be sold.

aggie 10y ago
So by your logic, human-piloted cars shouldn't be sold either, as humans are not able to detect things 100% of the time.
- gambiting 10y ago
  A human is not a component for the car - the car itself is not smarter than a knife or a gun - it's how you use it that defines the responsibility here. Or to put it in other words - if I run a red light by accident, then that's what it is - an accident. I'm still responsible for causing a crash if one happens, but there's nothing more I can do to improve my perception of surroundings(and we already do ban humans who are unfit for driving). If a self driving car runs a red light, because its sensor is only 99% accurate, then I'm pretty sure the company making it will be sued to oblivion, because they released something that does not work all of the time(and I am talking about normal operating conditions, not sensor malfunctioning).