The following commentary is published on Thursdays as part of TPPF’s subscriber-only newsletter The Post. If you would like to subscribe to The Post, click here.
Imagine packing up the car for your spring break vacation and then plugging in your destination only to have your car inform you that you don’t have enough carbon credits left for the month to take that trip.
Or how about your car refusing to take you to the gun range because of what it believes are too many “red flags” in your current search history. And maybe it reroutes you from the Chik-fil-A to the Whole Foods because your health data shows you shouldn’t eat so many fried sandwiches. Also, you shouldn’t be giving your money to Chik-fil-A anyway because of the owner’s position on gay marriage.
Sounds crazy, but this could be our dystopian future thanks to automated vehicles. The promoters and producers of this technology don’t sell it that way, of course. It’s all about convenience: sit back and scroll as your car safely and efficiently guides you through trafficless streets and perfectly timed lights.
But start digging into the issue a little and you’ll quickly see that the trade-off for vehicular autonomy could be our own individual freedom. To get anywhere near solving car congestion, you almost have to eliminate human drivers. Simulations show even just one human driver per 100 self-driving cars can make traffic even worse than it is.
Or you might be thinking, no, I want a car that lets me choose between driving it myself or letting the car take over. Then why are the largest car companies hustling to get permission to make cars without steering wheels?
OK, but the car won’t override my late night “fourth meal” craving , will it?
Tell that to the guy who was “locked out” of all his home automations by Alexa because an Amazon driver mistakenly thought he was a racist. Pretty soon it could be cars that evaluate what their owners say and do and determine how and if they should work.
Everybody wants safety and convenience. The price shouldn’t be our freedom.