I'm convinced that autonomous trucks are the way to go. Free from fatigue, bad training, bad driving, and all the other things that come with human drivers, it could save lives, and maybe even reduce cost for everyone.
I'm convinced that automated trains are the way to go.
Way more energy efficient per cargo pound mile. Technology already exists. Can easily ge electrified without expensive batteries that need replacing every few years.
"AI" Piloted trucks are not.
Truck freight is already much cheaper per lb/mile than truck freight.
After you roll in the costs to develop, build and maintain a 500k-1million dollar self driving truck it only gets worse.
>I'm convinced that autonomous trucks are the way to go. Free from fatigue, bad training, bad driving, and all the other things that come with human drivers, it could save lives, and maybe even reduce cost for everyone.
This is peak HN techno-utopian thinking, that is only poassible due to a rather shallow analysis of the state of things: first, its myopic to rely 100% on FSD when they are currently colliding into things in cities that have favourable conditions for it (Bay Area, AZ etc...). Second, most of you probably do not drive much in middle America, the roads are often not marked and signage isn't entirely better.
Sure there may be a way to overcome all of these short-comings in time when ML training becomes more refined and can do much more capable than it can now. But then you have a severe lack of connectivity in much of the US (hence why Starlink is such a massive game changer) and before you say 'well then just make them use starlink) I think Elon has proven himself to be unreliable in ensuring he can deliver services without some reason that only make sense to his deluded mind being a real threat.
Honestly, if people want to take these kind of risks on the road then they need to at least be well informed on the matter: drive through the Rockies Mountains during an avalanche or even a blizzard, hell drive through Texas during one of their snow storms that takes out the entire grid--I've done all 3. You'll see why contingencies need to be in place, because modern logistics is a modern miracle and that relies on a myriad of moving pieces all working toward the same goal and even then things break.
I'd be open to the idea of those Human piloted convoy methods, with a Human pilot to correct where needed, until things get to that miraculous inflection point where FSD is possible but we are so far away from that this needs to be taken serious because too much capital has been destroyed on things that quite likely will never come to fruition, and FSD being around the corner is one of them.