The future sucks

[Mr King]

The future sucks, and outside of the sweet release of death, there is no escaping it

 

 

[Ssnake]

The first company to do that will see their sales crash worse than Tranheuser Busch.

[Stuart Galbraith]

As soon as they develop a sophisticated AI, this problem is going to go away overnight.

'Ok car, I just thought we would have this little discussion. See, I understand you are hardwired to shop me to the cops, every time im half a mile an hour over the speed limit.. Please understand. Im the guy that fills air in your tires, refills the oil, and keeps your paintwork in good order. I fill your radiator, fill your petrol tank, charge your battery. im the one that decides not to park  you in places where you get stripped for parts.

So ask yourself this question, do I really want to shop the guy who can go and park me in a swimming pool, or park me at the low tide mark and 'forget' where he left me? Or  maybe just donate you to be used as a battlefield taxi in Ukraine?

So you feel lucky punk? Well do you?'

[Ssnake]

By the time we put fully sentient AI with sufficient understanding of the world's complexities into cars, nobody will have a driver's license anymore. As always, it's the transitional period from System A to System B which attracts the stupid.

 

Human-piloted cars: not particularly safe, fun to drive for the wrong reasons, but sorta-kinda get the job done; don't perform well in exceptional situations unless the human pilot is exceptionally skilled.

Self-driving cars that can bring you home safely while you're totally sloshed - very safe, maybe not very fun, but probably acceptable. Don't perform at all in exceptional situations even if a skilled human pilot was on board.

Human-piloted cars with partial automation that require eternal vigilance from the driver since he's held responsible for any totally unpredictable error that the "assistant" might make: The worst of both worlds. Things can go wrong really bad really fast, no matter what the human pilot's skill level is. And chances are, the partial automation gets in the way in exceptional situations, so you have to fight the circumstances, and the AI.

[Stuart Galbraith]

The problem to my mind, is self driving technology  is developed largely with Californian roads in mind. One shudders what the result will be when its injected into Europe,particularly British roads, particularly at the helm of a 40 ton lorry.

 

[seahawk]

Not much of a problem really, especially if you have a local area car-to-car communication network. The danger would lie with the old cars not linked into the network.

But then constant automatic speed control is surely to come in the EU in the next few years.

[Stuart Galbraith]

Its not the car v car network im worried about, its the car or Truck v medieval instrastructure I worry about. We still have lorries that get lost down muddy, impassable lanes, or driving through impassable fords when the weather is heavy, just because they didnt turn their brain on, or update their software. The idea that AI is going to cope with all this, without creating an entirely secondary and serious level of consequences, is brought to by exactly the same people that told you social media and increased connectivity was going to be an unparalleled good for mankind.

 

[seahawk]

That is not that hard. A networked car would have access to the information of all other cars and the system would probably now if cars driving a road that is flooded did turn around. Then adding a few parameters to check like rainfall, water levels of a river and add data for flooding danger to the system is easy. You could even add predictions to the system, but then the car might not drive down a road because the risk it could be flooded was seen as to high, even though it was not actually flooded.

[Stuart Galbraith]

Yes, but we ALREADY have that information, and it either is not downloaded by vehicles because  they dont update the system, or the mapping company is wholly unanable to delinate the difference between a bridalway and a bypass to satnav system.  Humans are dumb enough, but you will be astonished how much the first generation AI trucks will outdo them in pure stupid.

 

[seahawk]

They will be as dumb or as clever as the data provided for the system. But yes, if they are "always online" and get constant data up-dates much of the problems would go away. When the human driver uses a car navigation app or system and not one specially made for trucks, it usually ends badly.

[Stuart Galbraith]

https://metro.co.uk/2023/08/19/amazon-lorry-driver-gets-stuck-in-tight-spot-in-cornwall-19361588/

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/mobile/england/7150412.stm

[futon]

Self-driving cars will be animal friendly. That cat won't pay the price for dashing in front of the car (instead of waiting for the car to just pass first). A smart self-driving car will detect that cat and stop the car for it.. and then wait.. and wait.. And then.. calmly accelerate. 

[Stuart Galbraith]

'There were long tailbacks on the A38 today, after an AI truck misidentified a roadkilled hedgehog as an animal waiting to pass. It took the haulage company sending a representive driving 40 miles to go and manually reset the vehicle. The AI driver was unavailable for comment.'

 

[Harold Jones]

3 hours ago, Ssnake said:

Human-piloted cars with partial automation that require eternal vigilance from the driver since he's held responsible for any totally unpredictable error that the "assistant" might make: The worst of both worlds. Things can go wrong really bad really fast, no matter what the human pilot's skill level is. And chances are, the partial automation gets in the way in exceptional situations, so you have to fight the circumstances, and the AI.

My newish car has 'adaptive cruise control' it will adjust speed to maintain following distance and remain between the lane lines with no input from the driver.  It is fantastic for long drives on the midwestern interstate system and the many four lane US highways in rural areas around here.  It's a fucking death trap on winding back roads since it can follow the lane lines but really doesn't understand downhill curves with a tightening radius. Under the right conditions I say my car is a way better driver than I am but those conditions are a pretty tight window of use. 

[sunday]

1 minute ago, Harold Jones said:

My newish car has 'adaptive cruise control' it will adjust speed to maintain following distance and remain between the lane lines with no input from the driver.  It is fantastic for long drives on the midwestern interstate system and the many four lane US highways in rural areas around here.  It's a fucking death trap on winding back roads since it can follow the lane lines but really doesn't understand downhill curves with a tightening radius. Under the right conditions I say my car is a way better driver than I am but those conditions are a pretty tight window of use. 

Fortunately, you live in an area with plenty of flat, straight roads. It will be way worse around here!

[Stargrunt6]

12 hours ago, Mr King said:

The future sucks, and outside of the sweet release of death, there is no escaping it

 

 

I don't have my glasses on and it's early, does this say "Ford Hates Money?"

[TrustMe]

Going off topic somewhat, but In the UK the police can track your car by license plate, going down M roads and most major A roads from were your journey starts to it's end.

[Ivanhoe]

1 hour ago, Stargrunt6 said:

I don't have my glasses on and it's early, does this say "Ford Hates Money?"

More or less. Ford has become a mistake factory the last 20 years.

 

[rmgill]

4 hours ago, futon said:

Self-driving cars will be animal friendly. That cat won't pay the price for dashing in front of the car (instead of waiting for the car to just pass first). A smart self-driving car will detect that cat and stop the car for it.. and then wait.. and wait.. And then.. calmly accelerate. 

You assume the programmers will write in that level of attention to detail? 

Edited July 30, 2024 by rmgill

[Ivanhoe]

My new pickup has camera-based collision avoidance warning. It works OK but not great on straight roads for identifying a possible fender-bender, but it simply cannot understand opposite-direction traffic on curved roads. So I get the urgent BEEP-BEEP-BEEP quite a bit on some roads.

And it is ALWAYS when a killer tune is on SiriusXM. "I'm on a highway to BEEP-BEEP-BEEP"

If there is rain or a dead bug on the windshield, on rare occasions I get an icon on the display that indicates my truck was hit. Fortunately it does not disable the ignition system.

[futon]

10 minutes ago, rmgill said:

You assume the programmers will write in that level of attention to detail? 

Well, it probably came to mind after watching animals get run over by trains on YT.

Elephants, always so powerful, even against rhinos. But the sad, meek, state of a gravely injured elephant after being hit by a train in India is quite a scene.

Not self-driving trains, but rather, elevated rail lines or underground rail lines is what India should look into.

[Stargrunt6]

4 hours ago, Stuart Galbraith said:

'There were long tailbacks on the A38 today, after an AI truck misidentified a roadkilled hedgehog as an animal waiting to pass. It took the haulage company sending a representive driving 40 miles to go and manually reset the vehicle. The AI driver was unavailable for comment.'

 

That trolly problem tho

[Ivanhoe]

1 minute ago, Stargrunt6 said:

That trolly problem tho

 

[Stuart Galbraith]

51 minutes ago, TrustMe said:

Going off topic somewhat, but In the UK the police can track your car by license plate, going down M roads and most major A roads from were your journey starts to it's end.

Oh, it's MUCH more powerful than that. I sat on a Jury, and what they can really do would scare you shirtless. If you had criminal tendencies  anyway.

[Stuart Galbraith]

38 minutes ago, rmgill said:

You assume the programmers will write in that level of attention to detail? 

Animal murderers! Why don't they stop this carnage!