[ExI] self driving cars

Mike Dougherty msd001 at gmail.com
Sat May 19 02:18:22 UTC 2012


On Fri, May 18, 2012 at 11:03 AM, Kelly Anderson <kellycoinguy at gmail.com> wrote:
> I assume you are familiar with the coffee house argument for why
> England became an industrial superpower. What if car pools became that
> kind of social force? Design self driving cars with a round table
...
> even the computer could be smart enough to say, "These two people
> really should talk, I'll arrange a ride for them, and even propose a
> topic for discussion"... it could be a really good thing.

F2F is better accomplished via skype [or equivalent] the only reason
for body-to-body contact is Spike's copulating couples scenario.  I
think that's still better served by each driving/riding alone to a
common destination [proverbial hotel room] than engineering vehicles
for such.  We have enough other opportunity for social interaction,
traffic happenstance is possibly the last place I want AI-generated
meetups.  Well no, the restroom is likely the last place - but traffic
system regulation of  who I meet is next-to-last place I want
strangers forced upon me.

> So are you proposing a kind of system where the human gets to think he
> is driving, but the car is actually in charge to the extent of
> avoiding accidents and such? That might be a nice transitional
> technology.

Yes.  You can exercise complete freedom with commensurate increase in
insurance premiums, use tax, etc. for variance from regulated optimums
as long as it does not adversely affect the experience of other users-
who also expect the pay-as-you-go tiers of service and performance.
Instead of the selective enforcement of law that we have now with
sparse police coverage, the vehicles would track [police/charge for]
non-compliance with regulations.

I've grown completely tired of the responsibility of driving.  What
once was the freedom to go where I wanted is now a chore.  If someone
else can accept the responsibility without causing me inconvenience as
punishment for my laziness I will gladly let "the system" get me to my
destination.  I consider the current implementation of public
transportation to be too high an inconvenience for where I live to be
worth the trade.



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