Shocker: Cruise Robotaxis Occasionally Need Human Help
General Motors’ Cruise autonomous vehicle division has had a bumpy few months. A number of frustrating failures have caused massive traffic pileups, car accidents, and even injured pedestrians. There have been so many issues that the company is temporarily halting public testing and has issued a recall for some of its vehicles. Now, we’re learning that Cruise’s robotaxis aren’t as robotic as everyone thought, as the company recently told CNBC that it employs “remote assistant agents” (people) to help the vehicles navigate.
Cruise said it employs one human assistant for every 15 to 20 driverless vehicles but noted that they don’t steer or control the cars remotely, only providing “wayfinding intel.” Company CEO Kyle Vogt said that humans interact with the cars roughly four percent of the time, usually in difficult-to-navigate, tight urban areas.
Since the robotaxis are technically still in testing, it’s not all that surprising to hear that people occasionally have to get involved. However, it does speak to the amount of time and research left to do before autonomous vehicles are ready for primetime.
Cruise is currently in a holding pattern after one of its vehicles injured a pedestrian in California in early October. State officials ordered the company to halt operations after determining that it misrepresented the safety and functionality of its vehicles.
[Image: Iv-Olga via Shutterstock]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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At what point would cars become genuinely 'autonomous', meaning completely free of human control? Do really want machines pre-set and then left to their own devices? What a terrifying thought, but when once again presented in this bland, 6 PM news reading style, it doesn't seem nearly as bad.
96% autonomy is maybe SAE Level 3, and arguably Level 2 or 4.
Yep, that last 4% is hard. That's where the regulators and prosecutors come in.
Nobody will ever claim Level 5 and absorb the liability. And over at Tesla, everyone who foolishly paid for the non-functional FSD option should get their money back.
"humans interact with the cars roughly four percent of the time"
Hmmm.