Didn’t the Chevy ignition switch failure demonstrate who is liable?
I have both a Garmin and a Magellan GPS that I carry on trips. Both are basically computers and both failed during a recent trip out of state with my brothers. One would have put us in a large lake and the other would have put us over a mountainside. These are new units and were completely updated. While these are great devices…if either one had been in control of the vehicle…I might not be writing this now.
“Man will not merely endure, he will prevail.” William Faulkner
And history will one day note whether we did so because of or in spite of computerized logic. Until then…
Isn’t it only a matter of time before the technology for computers to operate an automobile proves it reliability and superiority?
Does anyone here not fly because they don’t trust the computers which are in pervasive use during all aspects of a flight?
I have my fingers crossed that Solly is in the cockpit, @Joe.
A few years ago while traveling, a detour on a road unknown to the GPS left me driving west toward the Mississippi River. My co-driver wanted to back track many miles and get a good route on the GPS. It occurred to me that a well maintained 2 lane highway heading west would eventually lead to a bridge so I continued on. There was no bridge but there was a ferry and for a $14 fee more than 150 miles of back tracking was saved and we enjoyed some throw’d rolls in the deal.
Yeah but planes still have throttles and yokes and a button that turns the autopilot off. Plus the folks in the cockpit are highly trained and qualified and a lot of them have been shot at.
Airplanes may have throttles, yokes, and a button to turn the autopilot off, but if you’re flying at night, the pilots are flying purely on instrumentation.
Computers can already beat the human mind at chess. It’s just a matter of time before it will become a superior operator of a car.
I think that cost would necessitate the control of many vehicles in a certain area by a central super computer.
a big blue in every car would be quite expensive.
You can fly at night VFR:
So if a self driving car has the wrong posted speed limit, (my garmin has speed limits displayed along with actual speed and I assume autopilot cars use that info also) and gets a speeding ticket, what happens then? 3 points off my license says the car, I don’t need no stinkin license!
it usually takes at least 50 yrs before a human has a catastrophic failure, such as a heart attack or sroke, while driving. I have a feeling that when every car on a certain grid loses power or control it would be disastrous
A very big problem with any software development is testing. The best programming teams can create software to do specific tasks and solve specific problems. Another team needs to create the "what-ifs" that can cause the software to fail.
That’s part of the reason. The other is programming methodologies. Using best practices help ensure that code meets the correct objective. By having good methods in place and making sure everyone ensures they are following those methods has far more of an impact on good software then a good test team and what methods they are using.
Computers can already beat the human mind at chess. It's just a matter of time before it will become a superior operator of a car.
And Jeopardy.
It’s hard to imagine what a computers capabilities will be 50 years from now. Computer technology is still changing rapidly. Computers today are over a BILLION times faster then the fastest computers just 20 years ago.
And then there’s new totally radical designs that are just now coming to market.
Or new technology that’s still in experimental stage.
Yep, remember Buddy Holly? The pilot was flying at night under VFR. Still there is a difference in flying using instruments and autopilot. Flying using instruments just means using the altimeter, air speed, vector, etc. to know where you are without looking out the windshield. Still I like to drive so even if a computer is better, I’ll probably still do the driving unless I’m taking a break or an emergency brake.
"Big blue in every car would be quote expensive "
That’s what they said about a device that held a thousand songs or completely controlled the drive train of your car. It’s just a matter of adding sensors and increasing intelligence both of which is entirely possible when advancing computer technology is given over to the computer, and Third world country labor will again make it cheap. It’s not a matter of “if”, it’s a matter of “when.” Heck, UPS will be delivering small packages via auto delivery drones at some point too.
Military seems to be considering the technology
They would be foolish it they didn’t . ;), especially with our unlimited supply of tax monies at their disposal.
…speaking of Jeopardy, it was my Congressman–Rush Holt–who beat the Watson supercomputer on Jeopardy. That is the same computer than beat Ken Jennings!
Before being elected to Congress, Holt was the director of Princeton University’s Plasma Physics Laboratory, and I enjoyed displaying a bumper sticker that said, “As a matter of fact, my Congressman IS a rocket scientist!”
Sadly, he is retiring because he is just too dismayed by the partisan gridlock in DC.
But, in case you missed the coverage of his achievement on Jeopardy…