"There's a clear similarity between the mid-2010s and our current moment: they were both times when the hype around artificial intelligence and automation were ascendent, if not reaching a fever pitch. A decade ago, the story was that rapid advances in AI and robotics were about to wipe out millions of jobs – maybe even half of all jobs in the United States – and self-driving cars played into that story.

Within a few years, taxi drivers, truck drivers, and delivery drivers were supposedly going to find themselves out of work as the computers took over. But the technology didn't advance to that level and the predicted widespread job losses didn't materialise.

Today, we're in a similar place. The explosion of generative AI a couple years ago has created an environment where it's easy to sell a similar story of the inevitability of self-driving cars all over again.

There's no question we're slowly starting to see more of them on the streets, but that doesn't mean they're going to be ubiquitous anytime soon – if ever – nor will they solve the entrenched problems in our transport system.

Technology doesn't solve what are inherently political problems. The deaths on our roads and the time we spend stuck in traffic or waiting for an infrequent bus are not because we're using the wrong technology. They're the result of choices we've collectively made for how to organise our transport system and give cars primacy over everything else."

https://www.dezeen.com/2024/11/21/self-driving-cars-hype-opinion

“Tesla’s big recall should serve as a wake-up call. A recklessly designed ‘autonomous’ system shouldn’t be installed on hundreds of thousands of vehicles before the feds intervene. We can prevent that from happening by requiring that these technologies receive pre-approval before they are sold to the public.” Via Slate.

#cars #Tesla #DriverlessCars #cities #driving

https://slate.com/technology/2023/02/tesla-recall-full-self-driving-nhtsa-musk-regulation.html

Will self-driving cars lead to more driving? Here’s something to consider — Berkeley researchers gave subjects a chauffeur for a week, mimicking the experience of owning a self-driving car.

Miles driven jumped 83%.

Via @jalopnik HT @davidzipper #cars #cities #SelfDrivingCars #DriverlessCars
https://jalopnik.com/zombie-miles-and-napa-weekends-how-a-week-with-chauffe-1839648416

“The MIT study found that with a mass global takeup of autonomous vehicles, the powerful onboard computers needed to run them could generate as many greenhouse gas emissions as all the data centres in operation today.” Via #Dezeen

Fewer cars and less driving, not “better” cars.

https://www.dezeen.com/2023/01/31/self-driving-cars-emissions-mit-study/