3 ms·

Remember: we do not even have cruise control that is usable in the winter. Once any autonomous driving system can provide even this basic function (not soon, I

Remember: we do not even have cruise control that is usable in the winter. Once any autonomous driving system can provide even this basic function (not soon, I fear), then we can talk about more complex behavior... This debate about what autonomous vehicles will do in extreme situations is but the "tip of the iceberg". Until all autonomous drive systems can be "unit tested" under a standard suite of simulated sensor inputs, one would be wise to assume that they are wildly unsuitable for anything but the most trivial driving situations (eg. Golf courses, closed estates).

baldfat 11y ago
I don't think slippery is an issue for computers. We have the quick on off brakes of ABS Braking. We also have AWD of Subaru for a decade that can transfer power to other wheels if it starts to slip. Also it can steer into a slid quicker and more precise than 99% of people right now.
- pjkundert 11y ago
  You are quite correct. The main problem right now is -- there is no way for you to know how any particular autonomous driving system will handle it. With every second auto maker and start-up claiming to have independently developed super-duper auto-drive technology, I think it will get worse before it gets better. Without standardised testing frameworks (ie. sending my car's autonomous driving system through a simulator to see what it will do), I remain ... unconvinced. Being an industrial programmer for 30 years, I think I'll continue to err on the side of assuming incompetence and failure, until proven otherwise.
  - baldfat 11y ago
    In the same regard I think in the next 20 years there will not be human driven trucks, buses and anything over a certain weight, because the cost of life to not do that will be over whelming. This is because one thing. They all can stop quickly and will have their own lane on all Interstates.
drzaiusapelord 11y ago
This is a great point. Autonomous driving is very primitive right now and the idea of an "all knowing" computer judging our lives is ridiculous. It'll react the same way we react, with dumb reflexes. If an obstacle appears on the road, it will brake or swerve away from the target. It won't have time to weigh some massive AI fuzzy logic about who dies. It will have no idea what the survivability of any of this is, and like a human it will try to avoid the collision. It seems that 60's AI is back in fashion and now part of autonomous car culture. There's this faulty idea of this super brain driving these cars. The reality is we're looking at dumb as rocks firmwares that can't even drive in the snow or heavy rain properly. Frankly, I think these firmwares should stay dumb like the human reflex system. Too much "engineer logic" and other questionable heuristics will just lead to bugs, lag, etc. I don't want my car to drive off the cliff because of some software bug. I don't need some Samsung engineer on a time constraint who couldn't spare the cycles for proper edge detection because he was wasting those cycles on 'sport mode' which marketing made a big fuss over delivering this quarter. I want dumb and simple code to do what's a dumb and simple task.

baldfat 11y ago

I don't think slippery is an issue for computers. We have the quick on off brakes of ABS Braking. We also have AWD of Subaru for a decade that can transfer power to other wheels if it starts to slip. Also it can steer into a slid quicker and more precise than 99% of people right now.

pjkundert 11y ago
You are quite correct. The main problem right now is -- there is no way for you to know how any particular autonomous driving system will handle it. With every second auto maker and start-up claiming to have independently developed super-duper auto-drive technology, I think it will get worse before it gets better. Without standardised testing frameworks (ie. sending my car's autonomous driving system through a simulator to see what it will do), I remain ... unconvinced. Being an industrial programmer for 30 years, I think I'll continue to err on the side of assuming incompetence and failure, until proven otherwise.
- baldfat 11y ago
  In the same regard I think in the next 20 years there will not be human driven trucks, buses and anything over a certain weight, because the cost of life to not do that will be over whelming. This is because one thing. They all can stop quickly and will have their own lane on all Interstates.

drzaiusapelord 11y ago

This is a great point. Autonomous driving is very primitive right now and the idea of an "all knowing" computer judging our lives is ridiculous. It'll react the same way we react, with dumb reflexes. If an obstacle appears on the road, it will brake or swerve away from the target. It won't have time to weigh some massive AI fuzzy logic about who dies. It will have no idea what the survivability of any of this is, and like a human it will try to avoid the collision. It seems that 60's AI is back in fashion and now part of autonomous car culture. There's this faulty idea of this super brain driving these cars. The reality is we're looking at dumb as rocks firmwares that can't even drive in the snow or heavy rain properly. Frankly, I think these firmwares should stay dumb like the human reflex system. Too much "engineer logic" and other questionable heuristics will just lead to bugs, lag, etc. I don't want my car to drive off the cliff because of some software bug. I don't need some Samsung engineer on a time constraint who couldn't spare the cycles for proper edge detection because he was wasting those cycles on 'sport mode' which marketing made a big fuss over delivering this quarter. I want dumb and simple code to do what's a dumb and simple task.