Musk: Autonomous Vehicles Mean Future Where Driving Is Illegal
His hand may be on a steering wheel now, but Tesla CEO Elon Musk foresees a future where autonomous vehicles lead to a total ban on human intervention.
Automotive News reports Musk said as much during a conference held by graphics chipmaker Nvidia at its headquarters in San Jose, Calif.:
In the distant future, I think people may outlaw driving cars because it’s too dangerous. You can’t have a person driving a two-ton death machine.
He later clarified on Twitter his own position on the matter, stating his company “is strongly in favor of people being allowed to drive their cars and always will be,” hoping that the statement was obvious to those following along.
As for his appearance at Nvidia, the chipmaker is working to sell a purpose-built autonomous-vehicle computer called Drive PX, based upon its Tegra X1 mobile processor. The system will have 12 inputs for high-res cameras — like the kind Tesla is putting into its Model S right now — and is due to go on sale in May.
Musk added that his engineers are hard at work on improving autonomous technology, believing the tech will take greater control of the wheel on the highway “in a few years.”
Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.
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Humans! That's the problem! We need to outlaw human beings because they're not safe! Safety Uber Alles! Think of the children! No price too high to pay for the safe, clean, orderly society of the future!
I don't get the controversy. Outlawing human drivers is the natural conclusion of the technology. It will just take a long time to reach that point. But when programmed cars eventually become the norm, insurance costs will skyrocket on people who want to drive themselves. And then it will be the wealthy who are driving themselves, and every time one of them causes injury/death, it will be news and op-ed worthy. So eventually it will be outlawed. So-called autonomous cars will really just be transport pods in a de-facto mass transit system. And "rogue vehicles" don't really fit within that scenario.
Embrace the future no need to fear it although when he uses terms like illegal and legal I sense the clumsy hand of government. As long as it remains a choice (free) I can't see any issues with it.
Don't worry, in the future adding to this thread by humans will be illegal and all further input will be by autonomous contributors. This will reduce the wildly vacillating emotional and incorrect content of the messages and ensure that the contributions contain only certified facts and present a uniformly pleasant user experience.