6 ms·

Here's a quick way to get safety in your collision avoidance system up to spec: randomly choose coders of the system to be the objects avoided during tests.

bsaul 7y ago
I’d add the managers and VCs that probably put all the pressures in the world onto the developers, that end up doing hacks just to meet the unreasonable expectation of the employers.
m0zg 7y ago
I know you jest, but it's very easy to not reliably kill anybody. Just don't let the car move at all, or stop every time it detects something as large as a mosquito. What's hard is to not kill anybody and actually drive.
Khaine 7y ago
Damn straight. These fuckers (and their executives) should be the ones whose lives are on the line, not innocent people on random roads.
roenxi 7y ago
You might be able to literally count on two hands the number of accidents where we have this level of transparency into the thought processes and sensory data of the 'driver'. And control over what happens next time. There is no doubt that the engineering data gathered here and in other accidents is going to contribute to a massive (truly massive, unspeakably massive, enormously massive - all such adjectives are appropriate) reduction in both actual deaths from car accidents and statistical deaths from the huge amount of time people waste driving. The big picture is so overwhelmingly positive that even if the engineers were purposefully running people over to gain testing data it would still probably be a large net win for greater society. Thankfully there is no call for such reckless data gathering. If anything, punishments in this case should be much more lenient than normal rather than breaking out the cruel and unusual measures.
- Piskvorrr 7y ago
  Oh wait. So the creators are to be treated with leniency, but LITERALLY running over innocent bystanders is an unfortunate coincidence which should be endured for the brighter future? If you do not see why this is wrong, do I have news for you.
- TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
  > There is no doubt that the engineering data gathered here and in other accidents is going to contribute to a massive Im going to strongly opposed this, and to support my perspective I present to you the Boing / FAA fiasco.
  - roenxi 7y ago
    Air travel is the safest form of transport we have. Perfection is impossible, but air safety is pretty close. They didn't get there by getting outraged every time an aeronautical engineer made a mistake; they got there because every time there was a crash they gathered data, thought carefully and made changes. There is no call to get riled up because Uber as a corporate entity let a mistake slip through. The justice system will come up with something that is fair enough and we will all be better off for the engineering learnings. This is young technology, which is different from aircraft.
    - TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
      > Perfection is impossible, but air safety is pretty close. Intentionally programming a system to ignore object history each time reclassification happens seems like a glaring oversight. Sitting behind the wheel as a test driver using your phone seems like a glaring oversight. I’ll continue with my rile until change occurs, cheers.
    - Haga 7y ago
      They got there because every crash is a worldwide public tragedy that leads to government regulators grounding planes until fixed... Putting the economic knife to throats.
- 7y ago

bsaul 7y ago

I’d add the managers and VCs that probably put all the pressures in the world onto the developers, that end up doing hacks just to meet the unreasonable expectation of the employers.

m0zg 7y ago

I know you jest, but it's very easy to not reliably kill anybody. Just don't let the car move at all, or stop every time it detects something as large as a mosquito. What's hard is to not kill anybody and actually drive.

Khaine 7y ago

Damn straight. These fuckers (and their executives) should be the ones whose lives are on the line, not innocent people on random roads.

roenxi 7y ago

You might be able to literally count on two hands the number of accidents where we have this level of transparency into the thought processes and sensory data of the 'driver'. And control over what happens next time. There is no doubt that the engineering data gathered here and in other accidents is going to contribute to a massive (truly massive, unspeakably massive, enormously massive - all such adjectives are appropriate) reduction in both actual deaths from car accidents and statistical deaths from the huge amount of time people waste driving. The big picture is so overwhelmingly positive that even if the engineers were purposefully running people over to gain testing data it would still probably be a large net win for greater society. Thankfully there is no call for such reckless data gathering. If anything, punishments in this case should be much more lenient than normal rather than breaking out the cruel and unusual measures.

Piskvorrr 7y ago
Oh wait. So the creators are to be treated with leniency, but LITERALLY running over innocent bystanders is an unfortunate coincidence which should be endured for the brighter future? If you do not see why this is wrong, do I have news for you.
TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
> There is no doubt that the engineering data gathered here and in other accidents is going to contribute to a massive Im going to strongly opposed this, and to support my perspective I present to you the Boing / FAA fiasco.
- roenxi 7y ago
  Air travel is the safest form of transport we have. Perfection is impossible, but air safety is pretty close. They didn't get there by getting outraged every time an aeronautical engineer made a mistake; they got there because every time there was a crash they gathered data, thought carefully and made changes. There is no call to get riled up because Uber as a corporate entity let a mistake slip through. The justice system will come up with something that is fair enough and we will all be better off for the engineering learnings. This is young technology, which is different from aircraft.
  - TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
    > Perfection is impossible, but air safety is pretty close. Intentionally programming a system to ignore object history each time reclassification happens seems like a glaring oversight. Sitting behind the wheel as a test driver using your phone seems like a glaring oversight. I’ll continue with my rile until change occurs, cheers.
  - Haga 7y ago
    They got there because every crash is a worldwide public tragedy that leads to government regulators grounding planes until fixed... Putting the economic knife to throats.
7y ago