An article recently appeared in the NY Times describing how
Google has made a car that can drive itself. In other words, a robot car.
Immediately reminding me of the cars in
I, Robot, I realized that as amazing as this sounds, there could be some potential drawbacks.
Now, I was just ranting the other day about how amazing it would be if we had cars that drove themselves. Needless to say it would make the roads safer and traffic more efficient (I live in New Jersey, so you must understand that traffic is already bad, but when people are driving that refuse to let someone into their lane, this actually slows traffic down ... at least in my opinion. But I feel like I'd have to write a whole other post on that).
Anyways, there are obviously some great improvements these cars would bring to the road, and it is truly impressive how a computer can recognize a red light, and stop, or the speed limit is X, so slow down or speed up... etc. That needs to be said that Yes, it's truly impressive, and Yes, this has many beneficial implications for society.
HOWEVER.
Eventually, when this car is mass produced, once it has been out on the market for awhile and becomes as common as cell phones, laptops and iPods, what will this mean for humans and our ability to learn?
Our ability to drive?
Will driving become a lost skill?
What does that mean when a car computer malfunctions and a human does have to take over?
Will we need to get drivers licenses anymore? How would that process work? How old will you have to be to get behind a car, if a robot is driving? Will that change?
Will driving become more technical? What will that mean for older people who have trouble with computers?
When technology makes our lives easier, it makes us more reliant on technology. We will no longer have to make split second decisions on the road - which is a great thing for many reasons. But what does that mean for the human mind... not just pertaining to this driving technological improvement, but to any technological improvement in general?
With a robot to make decisions for us, will we become less critical? Lazier than we already are?
If life is easier, does that mean we need to know less?
Lately I've seen a few articles about people relying on their GPS's and ending up in some pretty tight situations... one woman got stuck in a swamp and had to climb on top of her car and be rescued. Another guy drove onto what was more like a hiking path and it got too narrow, car got stuck on a cliff and a helicopter had to come.
These people were so reliant on and trusting in their technology that they did not use their own brain to make common sense decisions.
People already lack a good sense of direction. Despite a few occasional navigational mishaps, I do consider myself pretty good at getting around, and that is a skill of mine that I highly value. (As a few friends of mine who went with me to Atlantic City could easily explain, even while drunk I can not only navigate a casino I've only been in for an hour or two but I will also loudly proclaim how great I am at remembering how to get from point a to point b).
It's true that one of my biggest complaints about driving is that it means I can't do something else. For instance if I have to drive down to see my sister, that is two hours at least of focusing on the road and the road only ... and maybe listening to music or radio. But that means two hours of not writing or doing anything else productive. With a robot driver, obviously that means I can multi task (or can I? If I have to pay attention in case the robot makes a wrong decision?)
Of course the follow up to that is... sure it gives us more time to focus on more productive and meaningful problems... but the question is... how many people would actually use that time productively? Or would they just use it to play FarmVille a few minutes more?
I just want to say again that I think this is a great technology. But like any good science fiction writer, I do also want to consider any possible implications this could mean for mankind as a whole.
PS: I think it would be totally awesome for
Top Gear to do an episode on the new Google car... would love to see their comments on it.
