Growing up, one of my favorite books was Ronald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
A main conflict in the story arises when William Bucket, the main provider for the story’s family, is laid off from his job at the toothpaste factory. Why? Because a new and methodical robot has taken the place of himself and countless others at the toothpaste factory, plunging the protagonist Charlie and his family into further depths of poverty.
While this book is an obviously fantastical work of fiction, it reflects a common sentiment of fear and uncertainty that coincides with rapidly advancing technology.
The truth is, the concerns about industrialization Dahl expressed in 1964 continue to unravel over 80 years later, partially with the implementation of self-driving cars.
Humanity is driven forward by one key thing, innovation.
From the telephone to Sticky Notes, inventions whether monumental or fundamental have been contested by one group of people at some point in time.
People have strong opinions and mixed reactions when it comes to companies such as Waymo and Cruise in their attempt to pioneer this new mode of transportation.
But what is the actual experience like? Can we justify an autonomous take-over if it promotes safety and reduces the risk of human error?
These are the conclusions I was eager to draw in early September when I hopped into a Waymo car for the first time.
Booking and interacting with the Waymo app was easy enough. My only frame of reference for car ordering apps was Uber, which I’ve never had any significant problems with. It’s an easy trade-off with low stakes. Maybe an awkward conversation for the ease of being driven around.
With Waymo, that factor is irrelevant. You’re guaranteed a silent and self-contained drive.
To book your drive, you have to download the official Waymo app. There, you are greeted with an estimated wait time and three options for drop-off sites. It’s relatively easy to understand and work through. The in-app map shows you the car’s destination as it travels towards you, and seems to be incredibly accurate.
When it arrived I hopped in the backseat, buckled my seatbelt, pressed the start button at the top of the screen, and we were off.
The ride was unremarkable. I wasn’t witness to any egregious driving errors or close calls. The Waymo stopped at red lights, drove on green, and I gradually felt my shoulders relax as time went on. It felt like a human driving, one that was cautious and alert. After I got over the general unease of a driver-less car, the experience was smooth. Almost too smooth. It was surprising to me how easy it was to give up my autonomy, to put my safety in the hands of software and have minimal anxiety about it.
I’m not the only one that found this loss of control somewhat peaceful. Currently, the Waymo app stands at a perfect 5.0 rating, with over 130,000 reviews. That is an impressive rating for such a seemingly polarizing topic.
Another thing about Waymo is that you know what you get with every ride. A clean, new car that takes you where you need to go. You don’t have to worry about a reckless driver or dirty seats. Everything is regulated and looked after under the microscope of a company trying to assimilate into regular routine.
Safety is an obvious concern when evaluating the overall impacts of a greater use and implementation of self-driving cars. Because they are somewhat new concepts, there are minimal records and comparisons between self-driving cars and human operated vehicles.
We’ve all heard news stories about autonomous cars going off the rails, driving in circles and taking people to the wrong destination. These cases of minor inconvenience are spread around at a rapid rate, and can warp public perception. While I’m not attempting to invalidate this response, at the end of the day, a wrong turn is a small price in comparison to the potential devastation and consequences at the hands of human error.
While I’m all for the protection of human jobs, I’m also for the protection of human lives.
Car crashes are a normal part of our lives every day. It’s a risk you take every time you get in a car, from road trips to short carpools. We can’t escape the threat anywhere, in our neighborhoods, highways, or even school parking lots. It’s so ingrained in our worlds that a common goodbye is “drive safely.” The dangers of driving are not lost on anyone.
I’m not saying that self-driving cars are the solve-all for transportation accidents. Computers are also susceptible to mistakes, close calls, and outright shutdowns. Still, human error rates are higher. It feels like I constantly see someone on their phone while driving, swerving in and out of different lanes.
Ultimately, fears driven by these self-driving cars are valid. For one, we don’t know how these cars work. How could it possibly be routinely accurate? Make tough decisions? Be engineered by someone miles away?
To that I’d ask this; how does an airplane work? How does a robot play chess or respond to questions? At a certain point, skepticism is valid in new innovations. Gone are the times when everything was taken at face value, when discourse and debate over rapidly advancing tech was out of the public eye. But what do we actually know about these normalized everyday practices?
At the end of the day, as hard as we try, we cannot outrun technology. Whether we are optimistic or pessimistic, it is expanding at a truly unprecedented rate. Its advancement cannot be slowed by those of us unsure about changing times.
True, cars driving themselves seems like something that should not be possible. At the same time, humans were not supposed to travel at the speed of a cheetah. It’s all relative when you zoom out. Why shouldn’t cars be able to drive themselves or even fly? If you look at these self-driving cars more practically, it is possible to see something at its core.
Self-driving cars are new and updates on their development are quick to be radicalized. We’ve grown deaf to news of highway pileups and dangerous drivers. It causes less of a wave than news that a Waymo drove in circles in downtown Austin. But this distorted perception should not dissuade us from something that could make a serious difference.
My ride was smooth, fast, and relatively affordable. While this new mode of transportation is still relatively new, it serves as a functional way to go somewhere safely. It is a good option that will only become more precise and widespread with time.
While I’m not going to be the first one to welcome our new robot overlords, I’m trying to be sanguine about something that is, to a certain extent, out of our hands.
I’m not going to force you into the back of a Waymo or argue about its inherent problems, but I would advise and suggest a certain level of open-mindedness when it comes to the possibilities for good.
