The myths are these: 1) The computer-driven car is already here. I’m sure a lot of Uber riders were disappointed to get into those Volvos in Pittsburgh only to find an actual human at the wheel. But the fully automated car’s delivery date keeps extending into the horizon, much like the obituary of the internal-combustion engine. 2) Okay, so maybe they’re not here yet, but when they get here, they’ll definitely drive you around all the time. To the contrary, there are various levels of automation, and it remains unclear whether the kind of semi-automation we have now—be it Autopilot or Super Cruise or Traffic Jam Pilot—will necessarily lead in an uninterrupted way to full automation. Our editorial deep dive asserts that it’s probably more realistic to think in terms of two parallel paths, with the driver aids in today’s upscale cars growing in sophistication, and the separate, fully automated technology relegated to domained areas due to the need for a predictable and matrixed environment where everything is talking to everything else—cars, pedestrians, road signs. 3) To the prior point, many think that computer-driven cars will eliminate the need for privately owned, human-driven cars. Imagine the requirements of the suburban parent, whose three kids are in five different activities, with last-minute changes to plans and routes, a galley’s worth of equipment at the ready for any kid-related event that might crop up. Can this person truly be served by the shared CitiCar, as depersonalized and germ-carrying as a rented tux? Doubtful. My view is that fully automated machines will be the small buses of the future, not the cars. Cars will be the things you drive.
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