Leaderboard

True as it may be, the fact remains most people wouldn't be comfortable with it, and it seems silly to have to pay for something you wouldn't be comfortable using when there are alternatives. Besides, I've seen "well-tested code" fail a little too often (especially when it involves networking, which this surely will. Watch out for that DDoS attack around the corner; it could be fatal!) to put my entire trust in such a thing.

That's definitely true, there is a certain ‘if I’m going to die from a cock-up, then it darn well better be my cock-up’ aspect to those fears, a decent dollop of 'I don't trust Terminators' going on. But at the moment, not at this very moment but a fairly general sort of moment, I’m driving a car where one of the windows no longer goes down because the electrics are screwed, every so often my dear vehicle will choose to remain locked for a couple of days due to a problem with the electronic unlocking mechanism the mechanic has no explanation for (‘it just doesn’t like you, mate,’ isn’t a valid explanation,) and not too long ago the computer chip was telling the car to change gears at the wrong speed (I drive an automatic.) I really don’t want to add complex decision making and navigational tasks to its responsibilities. And if the mechanic is right and my car actually doesn’t like me, it will be a very cold day in hell before… But anyway, I’m sure you're right and one day it will be an incredibly safe way to travel, but I’m going to wait at least a decade or two after it's introduced before I go anywhere near it. Because seeing facts and figures is all well and good, but certain real world experiences indicate there's some significant problems to overcome first. And if this does become a ‘thing’ in the near future, and all cars become driverless, I swear to God I’ll bike everywhere. And I’ll do so in really tight and inappropriate shorts. Because if I have to be inconvenienced, then I’m going to try my darndest to ruin everybody else’s day also. Oh I see, a glass-half-full fellow. Your optimism and good faith will have no impact on my stubborn and irrational pessimism, good sir

I actually do agree. I'd be much more likely to distrust the drunk driver in front of me than machine that's currently driving itself. I don't really know he's drunk until it's too late, you see, when he ends up in a face-to-lightpost situation and I end up in a face-to-trunk phenomenon. If he wants to talk about glitches, the other day my friend's fuel gauge broke and he ended up stuck smack dab in the middle of Australia, never to be seen again. I know this 'cause a little birdie told me. It was also a vulture, though that's probably not a good sign. It's not the newfangled machinery that's going to make this phenomenon much worse than it already is. I'm going to be at risk either way. Might as well be the thoroughly tested and bug-fixed machinery than to make a point of never driving at night lest I run into the next national car race championship candidate. And then somehow still run into someone who's driving out there without a wink of sleep, simultaneously on his cellphone; which is good, it'll be that much easier to phone the hospital that way.

I'm on way too many cold meds right now to know if this post is real or a fever dream. In either case — bravo, good sir (or diphenhydramine-induced hallucination, as the case may be)! Bravo!

I can't wait for self-driving cars. Travel will be a lot safer without humans in control. People blow the dangers of automation out of proportion. What they're complaining about isn't risk; we take calculated risks every day that could cause us harm. What they're complaining about is the feeling of powerlessness of entrusting their safety to a machine. The machine could be safer, but they'll feel less safe because they're not in control.