Autonomous Cars: The Future of Transportation?

 by Dexter Jones and Themis Orfanidis 

Could you imagine stepping into a driverless car and verbally asking it to take you someplace? What may sound like the stuff of science-fiction is rapidly becoming all too real, as the bar for AI technology is constantly being raised - the self-driving car is possibly one of the most influential inventions in this cohort of new developments, and its potential introduction into everyday infrastructure is something that will most likely affect us all. It is predicted that fully autonomous vehicles, in which no humans are required and thus do not even have an accelerator or steering wheel, could be implemented as early as 2025. However, the overall reception has been fairly mixed, as while many praise this new innovation, certain others actively condemn it. But why so? In this article, we will consider both sides of the spectrum and attempt to conclude whether or not autonomous cars are truly destined to be the future of everyday transport, and if the benefits outweigh the potential risks.

On the one hand, there are those in favour of the self-driving car. It seems like an obvious choice, does it not? Being able to go to work or school without even having to lay a finger on the wheel or a foot on the pedal - it allows for the ‘driver’ to catch up on work, surf the internet, watch a movie, read a book… the list goes on. The convenience of an autonomous vehicle is extremely evident; it can automatically be informed of potential traffic or roadwork ahead, seeing as it would be connected alongside all other self-driving vehicles on a gigantic, procedurally updated network, where all the cars would work in tandem. This not only reduces congestion, saving governments up to millions of pounds and minimising air pollution, but crucially prevents a staggering majority of car crashes from occurring. Statistically, 94% of car accidents are due to human error. However, with the human factor removed from the driving process, the amount of car crashes per year would plummet, potentially saving millions of lives globally long term. As well as all of this, simply put,  autonomous vehicles are extremely convenient - they even allow for people with disabilities, who would otherwise have never been able to drive a regular automobile, to have access to this new form of transportation. They are even predicted to sell for as little as £5000, and although this price tag is subject to change, what remains factual is that the maintenance costs will be significantly lower than that of a conventional car. All in all, the self-driving car seems like it’s too good to be true. But is it?

Contrastingly, there are those who are not too ecstatic about the introduction of autonomous vehicles, going so far as to throw rocks through their windshields as they innocently pass by. This is most likely due to a plethora of potential problems: Firstly, the fact is that self-driving cars will inevitably put a large proportion of people out of business. People such as taxi drivers will be left unemployed as their jobs will have been taken away from them by artificial intelligence. The issues do not end there - while people may feel safer in their autonomous cars since the risk of a car crash has been minimised, danger may manifest in other forms. Firstly, while the huge network in which all the cars are interconnected is one of the benefits of self-driving vehicles, it can always be hacked and compromised, allowing the hacker in question to do as they please with access to all the cars on the network. Furthermore, the movement on a self-driving car is heavily dependent upon a sensor system which surveys the surrounding area - if this were to malfunction, for example in poor visibility conditions, people’s lives could be at risk if they are not detected in time for the car to stop itself. It may also fail to detect other obstacles or even other cars in its path. Furthermore, one of the big selling-points of the autonomous vehicle is that, theoretically, the driver would not have to pay attention to the road ahead. However, in doing so they are putting themselves and others at greater risk, as in the event of a sensor failure or a sudden obstruction, they would not be aware of the danger in time to press the emergency stop button, leading to deaths which may have been preventable. Finally, there come the ethical and legal dilemmas which arrive alongside these new vehicles. Since the car drives independently of its driver, that begs the question: in the event of an accident, who is to blame? The driver, or the manufacturer? It would lead to very perplexing legal proceedings. As well as this, the cars will have been programmed to make the most ‘appropriate’ decisions in dire situations. But what is the algorithm’s definition of appropriate? Would it be better for the car to save multiple pedestrians if it meant killing the driver who bought it? Or would it be best to kill multiple innocent pedestrians in order to save the driver? A morbid question, but one that must be asked if these vehicles are to be integrated into society.

It is clear that this new technology has the potential to completely change society, through eliminating accidents as a result of lacking coordination and any imperfections humans may have when driving. Moreover, autonomous cars would be able to cut vast expenditures wasted on running costs from prolonged traffic congestion, and lead to increased productivity amongst workers as they are able to arrive at work sooner. Despite all of this, on the whole the impact autonomous driving will have in the years to come is dependent on the people - Autonomous cars are mainly reliant on their intercommunication with each other. Therefore, it is likely that without the complete acceptance of the idea from the whole population, the idea will fall apart. This is already a fairly unlikely outcome and on top of this many accidents caused at the fault of autonomous technology have already been reported, leading to a federal investigation across the U.S. The future of self-driving cars remains to be seen, but it is more likely than not that we will see them on the streets in our lifetime.