My Infant Daughter’s Life Shouldn’t Be a Variable in Tesla Autopilot's Beta
thedrive.com
thedrive.com
Wouldja think of the children! I'm astonished that this argument-enhancing cheat-code still flies in 2019. It should be as obvious as "these N-units of clickbait". If he's so concerned about his daughter, why did he take her out on a freeway where several lives are lost per year? Why does he allow his precious daughter to breathe the smog from millions of automobiles in the LA Basin? I mean, think of the children! breathing all that NOx into their little-children lungs! We need regulation!
The game is stacked against Autonomous tech since the detractors can point to any incident at which AT is at fault, but AT supporters can't point to the lives saved by safer decisions, faster reaction times, less emissions, zero emotion which serves to reduce stress and road rage incidents.
But since those gains are invisible, and people are emotional, hit pieces like this will always be popular.
1. https://np.reddit.com/r/teslamotors/comments/burimz/psa_emer...
2. https://np.reddit.com/r/teslamotors/comments/bulra4/emergenc...
3. https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/emergency-lane-depar...
It worth mentioning that this feature, called ELD, can't be disabled permanently and enables itself back again after each trip. Driver is expected to disable it manually each time. Also, this feature could kick in anytime, even when driver is actively steering!
So, maybe author was wrong when he mentioned his kid, but his point is essentially correct.
How is this behaviour OK on a public road -- "I made it half way into the shoulder and the emergency lane departure kicked in a yanked me back into the lane, almost hitting the car I was passing as I fought with the automatic steering"?
I'm not. Preying on instincts is a classic tactic, one that will continue to work until the Allied Mastercomputer implements human extinction in a fit of machine-driven spite.
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This is akin to Tump's complaint that any given media outlet doesn't write enough positive articles about them... that wouldn't indicate a lack of bias even if they did write them 50/50 or 100/0.
it's not production ready so it's a legit concern
1: https://futurism.com/the-byte/tesla-sued-deadly-crash-autopi...
- Insurance rate deltas for never-on v. ever-on "beta" automated driving features. This absorbs risk both for the insurance companies as well as on behalf of the driver.
- Visible and blatant notices by companies trialing self-driving features that such features may result in insurance rate adjustments if used as the features themselves pose not-yet-quantifiable risk.
- Mandatory reporting by car companies as to who enabled beta self driving features (accepted the risk) to send to insurance companies if needed e.g. in the event of a collision.
Don't know which of these would happen first, but frankly, insurance should be leading the way on appropriately derisking beta-testing self-driving features since it's... probably an inevitability that these will be tried by drivers on public roads.
But in the stable version? Yes it should. Your daughter is not more important than say the newborn twins that may be carried by another car that your car is about to hit.
Otherwise, you believe that her existance is worth sacrificing N people over - or hell, even a few million people, and that ain't right.
I do not want to alter my utility function to favor people simply based on them having some of my genes, or having been educated by me (so I'm not a teacher either!)
However, there are many wonderful parents out there - I've read some poignant stories about parents who went on with organ donation after their kid had a accident which caused irreversible brain damage. I couldn't picture myself doing that - which is why I was afraid the "risk" would be very real for me.
If you really fear for her safety in a car, stop putting her in a car; or maybe put her in a Tesla because it's probably safer than the car you're driving.
Tesla has the data about it's fleet. Some guy that thinks he saw someone not paying attention is an anecdote.
I'm skeptical considering Tesla's past approach to testing, their problems with the NTSB.
Is this the extent of these reports? (maybe I'm missing something). It would be helpful to see a list of the actual incidents they're using to calculate these numbers.
You should compare the safety of a Tesla to the safety of a similarly aged, similarly priced, and similarly equipped car, for example one with active safety mechanisms.
Plus, IMO the false confidence that Autopilot gives enables dangerous negligent behaviour from the drivers.
Want to see the safest car? NHTSA publishes an annual driver fatality report, and there are car models that have never had a fatal crash. See the 2009-2014 XC90 for example.
Do you have a different stat in mind you think would be more fair? Such as controlling for city/highway miles?
Of course, they are famously cagey with all of this data, always preferring instead to point to the "Autopilot miles vs. all miles driven" number.
> “It’s obviously a misrepresentation,” said Hemant Bhargava, a UC Davis professor who specializes in technology management. “You’re only in autonomous mode in the best scenarios, so the number of crashes will be lower.”
Source: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/studies-dont-support...?
"In practice, we found that the new Navigate on Autopilot lane-changing feature lagged far behind a human driver’s skills. The feature cut off cars without leaving enough space, and even passed other cars in ways that violate state laws [...] As a result, the driver often had to prevent the system from making poor decisions."
https://www.consumerreports.org/autonomous-driving/tesla-nav...
No shit, that would be the job of the parent.
See: Pedophastry
https://medium.com/incerto/pedophrasty-bigoteering-and-other...
391 Ohio Traffic Deaths YTD, all of which human caused.
Consumer Reports says (May 2019)
"In practice, we found that the new Navigate on Autopilot lane-changing feature lagged far behind a human driver’s skills. The feature cut off cars without leaving enough space, and even passed other cars in ways that violate state laws [...] As a result, the driver often had to prevent the system from making poor decisions."
https://www.consumerreports.org/autonomous-driving/tesla-nav...
Unless Teshla's are causing an _increase_ in car collisions, I see no reason to be this upset about it.
The author's fear, _of something that didn't happen_, has gripped them. It would be one thing if his daughter were killed as a result of a collision with a Tesla, that was operating on AutoPilot, but it didn't even happen. This person shouldn't even by driving at all.