When the Car Drives Itself
Self-driving cars promise a future where artificial intelligence handles the road while humans sit back and enjoy the ride. Steering, braking, navigation, traffic—let the technology worry about it. Unfortunately, nobody told the monthly payment.
Modern cars already use an impressive amount of AI and automation. Driver-assistance systems can maintain speed, stay within lanes, monitor surrounding traffic, and help navigate increasingly complicated roads. The technology keeps taking more responsibility for driving, but some responsibilities remain stubbornly human. If your navigation system has its own ideas about the road ahead, see GPS Says Traffic Is Building.
That’s the strange bargain behind smart technology. Every new feature promises to remove another chore from our lives, while somehow leaving us with plenty to supervise. We see the same thing outside the car, too. Robots Are Supervising Us Now takes a similar look at what happens when automation starts changing exactly who is working for whom.
Someday the car may handle the entire trip.
Until then, apparently we’re still responsible for financing it.
Explore more Chad Geepeety™ cartoons about AI, self-driving cars, GPS, smart technology, and the everyday problems automation hasn’t figured out yet.
