Unit 8, Listening 2, Driverless Cars


Driverless Cars

OK, so we’ve been talking about some of the consequences of automation, both expected and unexpected. Now I want to dive into a form of automation that’s now becoming a reality: driverless cars. In the readings you did to prepare for this week’s class, you came across several prospective effects associated with the possibility of driverless vehicles.

The most obvious is, of course, that jobs will potentially disappear. Some experts are predicting that as many as 4 million jobs will be lost as a result of the introduction of autonomous[1] vehicles. We’re talking about truck drivers, taxi drivers, ambulance drivers, even pizza delivery drivers, right? But there are other jobs on the line here, if and when driverless vehicles become the norm. Take a minute to think about the jobs loosely related to transportation industries. For instance, take insurance. If cars are self-driving and at least theoretically incapable of making a mistake, would people need to buy insurance? Would insurance salespeople lose their jobs because of driverless cars? Also consider the industries that cater to long-distance drivers, the truck stops and the hotels. Will some go bankrupt[2] because driverless cars don’t need to stop for a rest or a good night’s sleep? When we talk about job loss, we need to keep in mind that we’re not just talking about the actual drivers, but also the parts of the economy that support drivers through the sale of goods and services.

OK, so that’s one imaginable result of the invention of driverless cars. Another, as you know from your readings, is the fact that our very notion of what a car is will surely change. If you close your eyes and imagine a car, you think of, usually, five seats, four doors, windows all around, a steering wheel—you get the idea. But, if we aren’t actually driving the car, do we need, say, windows? Would we need to face forward? Would we even want five seats? What if we could request a specific kind of car depending on what we felt like doing, like an office car to catch up on emails or a movie car to watch the latest blockbuster? Maybe we could put our kids into a babysitting car for a long journey while we rode in a spa car. If you’re not actually driving, how would you like to spend your time? The way cars look, inside and out, could change completely due to these endless possibilities.

However, there is one main effect that we haven’t yet discussed, and that is the issue of morality[3]. So, imagine that a driverless car is humming along with one passenger inside. All of a sudden, a group of pedestrians[4] steps into the street. At that point, hypothetically[5] of course, only one of two outcomes is possible. The car could hit the pedestrians, protecting the passenger, or the car could swerve and hit a wall, protecting the pedestrians but putting the passenger in danger. What should the car be programmed to do? Really. What’s your answer to that question? Would it surprise you if I told you that the vast majority of people respond that the car should be programmed to do the most good and/or the least harm? In other words, most people say the car should swerve to protect the pedestrians instead of protecting the passenger. But our answer to this question dramatically changes when the question is made less abstract and people are asked if they would buy a car that was programmed to protect pedestrians instead of the passenger. In that scenario, if we are the passenger, our answer is completely different. No way! Right? This gut reaction may be the reason why car makers initially said, when asked by reporters, that the car should be programmed to save the passenger in every situation. I can see some of you making faces. Exactly. That policy might leave a bad taste in many people’s mouths[6].

In the end, I’d say these cars are coming to our streets, and sooner rather than later. Experts agree that the overall number of accidents is going to sharply decrease, and that would obviously be a good thing. But maybe it’s not an entirely good thing. As we can see, this example of technological progress does have some unintended consequences, primarily that we are giving machines the responsibility of making potentially life-or-death decisions. There will be some very interesting effects of seeing more and more self-driving cars on our roads.

OK, now I’d like you to break into your discussion groups . . .


[1] autonomous: adjective governing or controlling itself

[2] bankrupt: adjective without enough money to pay what you owe

[3] morality: noun principles and standards relating to whether something is right or wrong

[4] pedestrian: noun a person walking in the street and not traveling in a vehicle

[5] hypothetical: adjective based on situations that have not yet happened, not on facts

[6] leave a bad taste in the mouth: idiom (of events or experiences) to make you feel disgusted or ashamed afterward

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Unit 5, Listening 1, Part 1: Urban Settlements

Part 1: Urban Settlements Narrator:        Almost 180,000 people move into cities each day. And now, for the first time in human history, the majority of the world’s population live in urban settlements . Urban settlements can be as large as megacities like Tokyo in Japan, with 35 million inhabitants . . . or as small as the city of Canterbury in the United Kingdom, home to little more than 40,000 residents. And yet, they have many similarities. Every urban settlement has a central business district in its historic core . This trading district is always situated where several main roads meet, and is the primary location for shops, offices, restaurants, and entertainment. High land value means few people live here. This is the main difference between the central business district and other urban zones. During the Industrial Revolution, many towns experienced a massive [1] influx of industry workers. These workers and their families ne...
Read more

Unit 7, Listening 2, Change Is in the Making

Change Is in the Making Kevan Gilbert: Welcome to Change is in the Making , Domain7’s podcast where we explore all things digital through the lens of purposeful change. I’m Kevan Gilbert. Veronica Collins: And I’m Veronica Collins, and together, we’ll be discussing themes of connection making and culture shaping. We’ll be delving into [1] how to create meaningful change from a business standpoint and a human perspective. Gilbert:           Today, we’re looking at the exploding reality of quote, unquote “digital transformation.” . . . Collins:           But I saw somebody call it a digital revolution the other day instead of digital transformation, and that really seems to ring true, that we’re living through, in the same way that the Industrial Revolution [2] completely reorganized people’s lives. We’re living through a digital transformation in that way— Gilbert:   ...
Read more

Unit 6, Listening 2, America’s Magnet for Innovation and Investments

America’s Magnet for Innovation and Investments Renee Montagne, Host: Think of the most technologically innovative companies of the last 50 years—Intel, Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter. Each one has a Silicon Valley address, and each one got backing from venture capitalists . Over the last decade, more than a third of the nation’s venture capital has gone into Silicon Valley, and much of it has come from there, as well. In our series on the history of Silicon Valley, NPR’s Laura Sydell has this story on how venture capital and high tech grew up together. Sydell, byline: When tech entrepreneurs go looking for money, they can easily end up here: University Avenue in downtown Palo Alto, with its clean brick sidewalks and high-end boutiques. Bill Reichert is a venture capitalist. Reichert:       Within five blocks of here, there are probably between 30 and 40 venture capital firms. And there are probably also about 30 or 40 start-up companies that have b...
Read more