If Google has its way, there’s no telling what will become of Driver’s Ed teachers and their classic advice: “You drive the car, don’t let the car drive you.” At this year’s Sun Valley conference, sponsored by investment bank Allen & Co., Google executive chairman, Eric Shmidt shared new observations on Google’s self-driving car. With artificial intelligence on the rise, consumers are increasingly more comfortable with computers performing tasks typically reserved for humans. In the future, we may realize Schmidt’s hope that “self-driving cars [become] the predominant mode of transportation in our lifetime.”
Matt Peckham explains the “vehicles utilize intelligent driving software, proximity sensors and GPS data to figure out how to get from one point to another.” Already licensed for use in Nevada, the Google team is still exploring business models and making the technology more user friendly. Google is still investigating the best way to bring the cars to market given that other states have not yet approved the technology. Alexei Oresovic notes that Google may consider licensing the technology to automotive brands. Schmidt suggests speed levels are the major challenge: “The current biggest problem is that it runs at the speed limit and nobody drives at the speed limit.”
At their technological best, given that drunk driving kills tens of thousands of individuals, self-driving cars can save lives. Google, and more recently, Cadillac’s Super Cruise features that enable hands-free steering, breaking and lane centering are not simply luxury, but protective enhancements. Still, Schmidt recognizes that many people are still weary about the futuristic technology. When asked what it will take to get what Alexia Tsotsis calls “the more technophobic mainstream” on board, Schmidt replied: “Depends on how drunk they are.”
[...] tech world seems to think Google’s driverless cars are the “next big thing,” with several companies developing apps for the futuristic vehicles. [...]