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I have a hard time imagining self-driving cars merely negotiating the traffic I drive in each day much less deal with the myriad foreign policy and security iss

I have a hard time imagining self-driving cars merely negotiating the traffic I drive in each day much less deal with the myriad foreign policy and security issues that have led us to this point in time. Imagine the lawsuits if it can ever be proved that a murder was committed by someone hacking an automobile--and I do suspect it has already happened. The drive-by-wire gas pedal and shifter in my car cause me concern. We need better low-tech kill switches and backup mechanisms and way less reliance on fancy tech. Also, there is no connection between "hacking" the CAN bus in today's cars and doing anything like providing access to adjust the A/C blower level in some future self-driving livery mobile. Why anyone would think there would be even the remotest connection between how CAN bus works today and how some future consumer-oriented interface would work demonstrates dangerous naviete.

bluGill 9y ago
The self driving car doesn't need to be perfect, it needs to be better than humans. That is a much lower bar. Self driving cars have already demonstrated their ability to handle traffic better than humans, but there are other situations where they are much worse.
- erobbins 9y ago
  Yeah, that's the problem. It's easier to be better than humans 95% of the time, but really hard for the next 4% and close to impossible for the last 1.
- Piskvorrr 9y ago
  The issue is not even with self-driving, this concerns any "connected" car. Remember the chrome box? (a device from the ancient era of phreaking, allowing to control traffic lights - some of them had an external input only protected by obfuscation, intended for prioritizing emergency vehicles) Is it so hard to imagine an external controller for all the other networked cars out there? (Remember, there are many ways a modern car is networked, some of them wireless - the FM radio is plugged into a CAN, and has digital data band; how does that sound?) Full control not necessary - just annoy the driver sufficiently to make them get out of the road (e.g. full throttle AC plus force hazard lights on).

bluGill 9y ago

The self driving car doesn't need to be perfect, it needs to be better than humans. That is a much lower bar. Self driving cars have already demonstrated their ability to handle traffic better than humans, but there are other situations where they are much worse.

erobbins 9y ago
Yeah, that's the problem. It's easier to be better than humans 95% of the time, but really hard for the next 4% and close to impossible for the last 1.
Piskvorrr 9y ago
The issue is not even with self-driving, this concerns any "connected" car. Remember the chrome box? (a device from the ancient era of phreaking, allowing to control traffic lights - some of them had an external input only protected by obfuscation, intended for prioritizing emergency vehicles) Is it so hard to imagine an external controller for all the other networked cars out there? (Remember, there are many ways a modern car is networked, some of them wireless - the FM radio is plugged into a CAN, and has digital data band; how does that sound?) Full control not necessary - just annoy the driver sufficiently to make them get out of the road (e.g. full throttle AC plus force hazard lights on).