Uber in Talks With Fiat Chrysler Over Self-Driving Car Partnership

Uber is one of those company who's CEO is so arrogant and callous (think Ryanair) that I would like his company to crash and burn. I think he's one of the reasons Apple partnered with Didi instead. To win in a the market because you work hard and make smart decisions is one thing, but to win at all costs and at the expense of anyone and anything is not good at all. He has no values. We need to get behind companies who stand for something and give a damn—I think it matters.

Is it just me or does this whole self driving car thing seem like science fiction? Is it really possible? I know there are people who say it is, but what about obstacles like animals crossing the road, etc.?

That's why there are proximity sensors.

Firstly, I see no fun in buying a self driving car. I enjoy driving and I would think most drivers do. Secondly, companies like Uber are really showing just how fast the world is approaching large scale unemployment where machines/robots/automation replace people. The profit of this will remain with these large corporations who will continue to get tax cuts for the purpose of investment, only to invest in more automation. At this rate, we could be 10 years off an irreparable GFC. Or maybe I'm overreacting.

Seems to be a lot of fear in this thread. I suppose that's natural with a new technology. Are you frightened to get on an airplane though? Sure they have pilots sitting there but other than takeoff and landing (and we could talk about that aspect too) modern commercial airplanes fly themselves. I realize airplanes aren't dodging cats and kids but the technology is getting better (for cars) and a car won't fall out of the sky if there's a malfunction. We can build redundancy and monitoring into these systems and make them highly robust. Remember that today Humans are more often the weak link than equipment failure in vehicles. How often do you hear about an accident due to steering failing or ABS sensors locking up? Humans get distracted, humans get drunk, humans don't follow the protocols (laws) of the road.

Other thoughts I saw:

"driving is fun" - I'm sure there are many people that think that way but I'd expect the majority don't think that about their commute. There's likely opportunity for "track days" or the like where people can take their excitement of driving. True motor heads will likely hate that but I think there's a larger market for people to spend their commute time doing something other than controlling a 2000+ pound machine.

"my driver can break the rules" - Autonomous and connected cars will be able to push the entire system to greater efficiency than individual drivers were able to even for those breaking the laws. Spaces between vehicles can shrink as reaction times decrease due to networked behaviors. Decreased need for reaction time can also increase overall speed. Networked communication can remove red lights altogether.

"mass unemployment will destroy us" - Should we really keep tasks around just so people can feel like they're doing something? I currently have a door stop holding my door open, should we somehow block that technology so I can hire someone to stand there and keep my door where I want it? The buggy whip example is so tired I don't even have to do more than just reference it. Autonomous vehicles more than other forms of automation seem to be inspiring a wave of neo-ludditism. I'll grant you that autonomous vehicles have the potential to eliminate many more jobs than buggy whips did (I've read estimates of 10 million) but there's a lot of good that can come from that too. Pooling vehicles means that a huge investment many of us make (typically second only to our home) that sits idle 90%+ of the time won't have to be made. Traffic congestion can reduce. Parking is no longer an issue when there's just a swarm of autonomous vehicles moving onto their next ride. All that valuable real estate in the heart of major cities can now become additional housing or even green space. Pollution decreases as these vehicles no longer start and stop as often and many never even have to get made. That still leaves a question of what do we do with 10MM people who used to earn money for moving a vehicle around. In the near-term most would retrain to do something else but let's take this to its logical conclusion of nearly full automation of everything (the anesthesia bot example should be of more concern to people with this fear as it goes beyond menial skilled labor). Society would have to reshape and I believe it would. If automation takes over all sectors of the market then it also drives costs significantly down across the board. Providing all members of society with all of their needs - beyond just basics for survival - becomes easier, trivial even. Having an economy so automated that all of our needs are provided for regardless of whether we have tasks assigned to us daily in order obtain tokens we can exchange for goods and services frees everyone up to follow their passions rather than labor on something to live. Call it a post-work economy or Star Trek economy of what have you but I believe that's possible. Automation doesn't frighten me in the least, I'm excited to see what the future brings.

edit: typos and clarification

That's why there are proximity sensors.

Firstly, I see no fun in buying a self driving car. I enjoy driving and I would think most drivers do. Secondly, companies like Uber are really showing just how fast the world is approaching large scale unemployment where machines/robots/automation replace people. The profit of this will remain with these large corporations who will continue to get tax cuts for the purpose of investment, only to invest in more automation. At this rate, we could be 10 years off an irreparable GFC. Or maybe I'm overreacting.

It will obviously be years before this happens, but I don't believe the up and coming generations feel the same way about driving a car. It's expensive to buy, own and maintain a car, especially in a big city where a lot of young people live. I'm in my mid 40's and I hate driving. I've been fortunate to not have to drive to a job for the last decade. I realize that puts me in the minority, but between public transportation and telecommuting, self driving cars is the next logical extension. I realize this doesn't help people who drive for a living such as truckers and taxi drivers, but this is all part of adaptation and progress. Just my two cents FWIW.

Personally I'm not too excited about a fully driverless car as I don't like the notion of not being in complete control. Perhaps some future cars would have a hybrid functionality built-in where I could decide to take control or turn-over driving duties to the on-board computer system? Next, it will be self-flying commercial airliners and ships. I'm sure all coming as we push forward with full computer/machine automation.

Like will smith in iRobot

That's why there are proximity sensors.

I have yet to own a vehicle that hasn't had the reversing sensors go on the fritz at some point or a volumetric alarm sensor miss-behave.

Sure they are bound to be using better and more complex technology, but still the idea of an error happening at 50+ mph is frankly terrifying.

That is before you even get into all the "what-if" scenarios that can occur on a drive. Next time you are out and something occurs, like a bird flying across the front of your car, or a child steps out off the pavement whilst a guy on a motorcycle is coming in the opposite direction, try to imagine how a computer that has been programmed to react in a certain way to certain things, might handle such events.

We have automated, unmanned trains on rails, and they don't run correctly 100% of the time.