๐๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ดโ๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐ณ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ท๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐?
Aโ๏ธ429-wordโ๏ธ2-minuteโ๏ธread
Usually, it takes a while to decide what to write about each day. Today, all it took was this headline in a Wall Street Journal:
๐๐ข๐บ๐ฎ๐ฐโ๐ด ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง-๐๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ด ๐๐ณ๐ฆ ๐๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด
Iโve written a few times on Waymoโs safety record. Granted, the stats come from Waymo, but I doubt the company is fudging the numbers. Too much downside in misleading the public on safety.
Waymo claims its cars result in 91% fewer serious injury crashes and have reduced pedestrian crashes with injuries by 92%.
If the company moves forward with the changes outlined in the Journal article, those numbers are in jeopardy.
I didnโt realize this, but the vehicles are currently programmed to be overly cautious, or as the Journal put it, โpolite.โ
Examples include:
โถ If a Waymo pulls up to a stop sign simultaneous with another car, it will wait for the other vehicle to go.
โถ Waymo would not cross a double yellow to pass a double-parked car.
โถ If you were going around a car making a left turn, a Waymo would let you in.
Not anymore.
It turns out that customers anxious to get to their destination arenโt buying into the whole โpoliteโ thing.
Who could blame them.
Imagine sitting behind a delivery truck until the driver completed their delivery.
Yet reprogramming a Waymo to be more like humans will undoubtedly increase the frequency of abhorrent driving behavior.
One experienced Waymo passenger described the new behavior as โdriving more like an aggressive New York taxi driver.โ
The altered programming has resulted in Waymos exhibiting such humanlike conduct as making illegal U-turns, and hitting the gas to avoid waiting its turn at a four-way stop. Plus, something so egregious I canโt believe it didnโt make the national news: a Waymo ran over a neighborhood cat in San Franciscoโs Mission district.
Waymo senior director pf product management Chris Ludwick says that the company has been trying to make its cars โconfidently assertive.โ
I think they may have overshot that mark.
Like AI, self-driving requires a delicate balance between pragmatism and safety.
Unfortunately, it is for-profit companies that decide where the tradeoffs begin and end. And as I illustrated in Mondayโs post that highlighted Zillow removing useful climate data from millions of its listings, those decisions donโt always place humans first.
It will be interesting to monitor Waymoโs safety stats. However, if the company continues its โconfidently assertiveโ strategy, itโs hard to imagine them going anywhere but down.
#autonomousdriving #waymo #evs #electricvehicles