Comments on: Why We Should All Be Scared of Robot Cars

By: tech@mikeShouts | video: Dodge thinks that tech isn’t always a good thing | a convergence of technology, gadget & lifestyle

Fri, 27 May 2011 06:21:30 +0000

[...] our planet. perhaps the depiction of the cars of the future in Minority Report as referenced to by Plastic Pal is little too extreme but i personally think that a scenario as featured in the movie I, Robot [...]

By: Billy Zelsnack

Billy Zelsnack — Tue, 10 May 2011 14:44:36 +0000

If we had cities that were actually designed to be reasonably livable we would not be so hamstrung by cars.

By: alex

alex — Tue, 10 May 2011 14:02:34 +0000

now what’s more fail, this or the corollamiku commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E15PE7iGT0U

By: Travis

Travis — Tue, 10 May 2011 13:37:28 +0000

This is clearly a cost-benefit scenario. On one hand, you have increased efficiency, cost savings, safer vehicles, and more sustainable cities. On the other hand, you have the potential for misuse in the guise of benevolence. This isn’t a new issue. In fact, it’s already commonplace for automobiles — many (fleet) vehicles already have a “black box” that tracks location, and many people blindly follow GPS directions like good little “meat robots”.

Personally, I _hate_ so many things about the current status quo: unproductive time spent driving, driving inefficiency (drivers’ poor habits), and the sheer waste associated with owning and maintaining one’s own vehicle. What happens when there are fleets of autonomous taxis (eg. zipcar) persistently available as a time-shared resource — does that change the equation? Perhaps anonymity can be reestablished, congestion all but eliminated, and petroleum consumption reduced… Frankly, we owe it to ourselves and our progeny.

I think people are well aware of the pitfalls. The best way to shape the future is to help build it.